On Sunday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that several Russian businessmen had offered to donate funds to help Ukraine, including supporting its army.
• Read also: New round of Russian-Ukrainian talks in Turkey
• Read also: Russian soldier surrenders and sells his tank to Ukraine
• Read also: The question of Ukraine’s “neutrality” has been studied in depth
During a video interview with several Russian media outlets, Mr. Zelensky said he had received “signals” from several Russian businessmen, including billionaire Roman Abramovich, a close partner of Vladimir Putin who has been targeted by EU and UK sanctions.
He said, “We’ve had signals from him and a number of other business people, saying, ‘We can help somehow, we can do something.'”
Some said they were ready to help rebuild the country after the war. The president said: “We are ready to move our business to Ukraine, we live in England or somewhere in Switzerland, we want to. But how can we not be on the sanctions list?”
“Some people do not want to reveal their names and say they want to help our army, while they are citizens of the Russian Federation,” he continued.
Then Mr. Zelensky emphasized that no matter how much businessmen were willing to donate money to support the Ukrainian army, Ukraine was ready to “guarantee their safety, provide them with work and allow their businesses to develop themselves”.
I’m talking concretely about sanctions in our country. He explained that we can discuss it, and we can discuss changing the nationality of these people,” stressing that it is not “obligatory to do so publicly.”
according to Wall Street Magazine On Wednesday, Mr. Zelensky reportedly asked Joe Biden not to punish Roman Abramovich, believing he could play a role in peace negotiations between Ukraine and Russia.