Zelensky asks London to hand Ukraine Abramovich’s £2.4 billion for air defense

Vladimir Zelensky has appealed to the British government with a request to confiscate and transfer to Ukraine £2.4 billion belonging to Roman Abramovich — the proceeds from the sale of Chelsea Football Club.

The Ukrainian president made the statement to The Guardian.

According to Zelensky, he is asking for the money to be directed toward the purchase of air defense systems for Ukraine. The president also said he had raised the issue at a recent meeting with Abramovich himself in Kyiv.

“He didn’t take that money with him. I said: ‘We need your money,'” — Zelensky stated.

The £2.4 billion in question is currently frozen. Since 2023, the British side has demanded that Abramovich transfer the funds to Ukraine, but he has refused. Both sides have threatened each other with legal action.

Abramovich met with Zelensky in Kyiv as an intermediary between the Ukrainian leadership and the Kremlin. Zelensky had previously said that at this meeting he passed a message to Vladimir Putin through the oligarch. The Russian president and Western media clarified that it concerned a request for a personal meeting. Putin declined.