Ukraine sees the billionaire Roman Abramovich as an effective mediator between Kyiv and Moscow who helps prevent misunderstandings from happening between the two sides, Ukrainian negotiator Mykhailo Podolyak said on Wednesday.
"It has long been known in the media space that he is an extremely effective mediator between delegations and partially moderates the process so that there is no misunderstanding at the outset," he told a televised briefing.
Podolyak also played down as speculative "conspiracy theories" the reports that Abramovich had been poisoned several weeks ago, saying such reports were meant to put pressure on the delegations.
(Reporting by Natalia Zinets; writing by Matthias Williams; editing by Chris Reese)
