Two of Russia's billionaires call for peace in Ukraine
One billionaire calls invasion 'tragedy' for Ukraine and Russia
Strategas Chairman Jason DeSena Trennert weighs in on how the Russian invasion of Ukraine will impact the markets and how the Federal Reserve can tame inflation.
LONDON — Two Russian billionaires, Mikhail Fridman and Oleg Deripaska, called for an end to the conflict triggered by President Vladimir Putin's assault on Ukraine, with Fridman calling it a tragedy for both countries' people.
Billionaire Fridman, who was born in western Ukraine, told staff in a letter that the conflict was driving a wedge between the two eastern Slav peoples of Russia and Ukraine who have been brothers for centuries.
"I was born in Western Ukraine and lived there until I was 17. My parents are Ukrainian citizens and live in Lviv, my favourite city," Fridman wrote in the letter, excerpts of which Reuters saw.
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"But I have also spent much of my life as a citizen of Russia, building and growing businesses. I am deeply attached to the Ukrainian and Russian peoples and see the current conflict as a tragedy for them both."
In this July 2, 2015, file photo, Russian metals magnate Oleg Deripaska attends Independence Day celebrations at Spaso House, the residence of the American Ambassador, in Moscow. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, File)
Russian billionaire, Oleg Deripaska, used a post on Telegram to called for peace talks to begin "as fast as possible".
"Peace is very important," said Deripaska, who is the founder of Russian aluminium giant Rusal, in which he still owns a stake via his shares in its parent company En+ Group.
On Feb. 21, Deripaska said there would not be a war.
Washington imposed sanctions on Deripaska and other influential Russians because of their ties to Putin after alleged Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. election, which Moscow denies.
Russia's so-called oligarchs, who once exercised significant influence over President Boris Yeltsin in the 1990s, are facing economic chaos after the West imposed severe sanctions on Russia over Putin's invasion of Ukraine.
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Putin, after consulting his security council of senior officials, said he ordered the special military operation to protect people, including Russian citizens, from "genocide" - an accusation the West calls baseless propaganda.
The Ukrainian president's office said negotiations between Kyiv and Moscow would be held at the Belarusian-Ukrainian border.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy speaks during his long time talks with journalists in Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, Oct. 10, 2019. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
"This crisis will cost lives and damage two nations who have been brothers for hundreds of years," Fridman said.
"While a solution seems frighteningly far off, I can only join those whose fervent desire is for the bloodshed to end. I’m sure my partners share my view."
One of Fridman's long-term partners, Pyotr Aven, attended a meeting at the Kremlin with Putin and 36 other major Russian businessmen last week, the Kremlin said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks as he attends the G20 summit via video conference in Moscow, Russia, Saturday, Oct. 30, 2021. (Evgeniy Paulin, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP / AP Newsroom)
Another Moscow billionaire told Reuters on condition of anonymity that the war was going to be a catastrophe.
"It is going to be catastrophic in all senses: for the economy, for relations with the rest of the world, for the political situation," the billionaire said.
The billionaires who gathered for a meeting with Putin in the Kremlin on Thursday were silent, he said.
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"Businessmen understand very well the consequences. But who is asking the opinion of business about this?"