Before today's talks in Istanbul started, Ukraine's foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba advised anyone going to the negotiations with the Russian Federation "not to eat or drink anything, and preferably avoid touching any surface".
He was speaking during an interview with Ukrainian news channel Ykpaiha 24.
The warning comes after it was revealed by sources that Chelsea FC owner Roman Abramovich and Ukraine peace negotiators suffered symptoms of poisoning including red eyes, constant and painful tearing and peeling skin on their hands and faces during meetings at the beginning of March.
There is some scepticism about the alleged poisoning and an unnamed US official was quoted by Reuters as saying that intelligence suggested the men's symptoms were due to "environmental" factors, not poisoning.
Senior Ukrainian officials have also played down the story, with Ihor Zhovkva, the deputy head of the president's office telling BBC Newshour that “the members of the Ukrainian delegation are fine; I was in contact with one of them, and they said the story was false.”
Ukrainian negotiator Mykhailo Podolyak took a similar line saying “there is a lot of speculation, various conspiracy theories,” while Rustem Umerov, another member of the negotiating team, urged people not to trust “unverified information”.
After reports surfaced yesterday that he suffered symptoms of suspected poisoning at peace talks on the Ukraine-Belarus border earlier this month, Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich - the owner of Chelsea football club - was spotted inside the Istanbul talks.
In pictures broadcast by Turkish media, he was seen sitting at a table alongside Ibrahim Kalin - a spokesman for President Erdogan, and was wearing translation headphones.
He was not at the main table of the Russian and Ukrainian delegations.
Kalin has reportedly helped coordinate meetings between the Russian oligarch and a member of the Ukrainian delegation in Istanbul hotels. The presence of Abramovich suggests he’s still involved at some level in the mediation attempts.
