Kremlin dismisses reports of Abramovich poisoning as 'sabotage'

The Kremlin has described reports that Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich was poisoned earlier this month as being part of an "information war."

"This is part of an information campaign, part of information sabotage, this is part of an information war," Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said, according to the Interfax news agency. "These reports are definitely not true."

Peskov confirmed Abramovich's presence at the latest round of Russian-Ukrainian peace talks being held in Istanbul on Tuesday, though he stressed that Abramovich was not an official member of the Russian delegation, but there to ensure "certain contacts" between the two sides.

On Monday, the Ukrainian authorities denied a report by the Wall Street Journal that several members of the Ukrainian delegation to peace talks with Russia in early March had been poisoned.

On Tuesday, the New York Times, citing US intelligence sources, reported that Abramovich's symptoms appeared to be nothing more than ordinary food poisoning.