Former Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich carried messages between Ukraine and Russia

Zelensky said the Russian "wanted to give me the message that they [Russia] are ready to, that they want to understand what we are ready to do".

He explained the former Chelsea owner was ready to take a reply "and give it to Putin".

"I said the question is not about us. You are fighting against us on our territory.

"And I said to him about Donbas, it was the key message, I said we will not leave and we will not go out from our territory.

"No, we will not give you a victory (in) such (a) way, and you will not get it," the Ukrainian President told Sky News.

Zelensky said he told the former Chelsea owner to let Putin know he was ready to meet "any time from tomorrow" in any location other than Russia or Belarus and with either Donald Trump or European leaders.

Zelensky did not detail when the meeting with Abramovich took place, but the Financial Times claimed the pair met in late May.

Abramovic was sanctioned by the UK shortly after Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022 due to his connections with Putin.

The former Chelsea owner was forced to sell the club, with £2.5billion being frozen in a UK bank account and the proceeds designated for the humanitarian causes in Ukraine.

In December last year, Sir Keir Starmer called on Abramovich to "honour the commitment he made when Chelsea FC was sold and transfer the £2.5billion to a humanitarian cause for Ukraine".

He said: "This Government is prepared to enforce it through the courts so that every penny reaches those whose lives have been torn apart by Putin's illegal war."

Chancellor Rachel Reeves added: "It's unacceptable that more than £2.5billion of money owed to the Ukrainian people can be allowed to remain frozen in a UK bank account. It's time for Roman Abramovich to pay up.

"If he doesn't act then we are prepared to do what is necessary to make sure that money gets to the Ukrainian people."

Abramovich has previously been involved in negotiations with Moscow and is believed to have helped arrange a prisoner swap in 2022, which led to the release of five British men captured fighting for Ukraine.

Zelensky is currently in the UK, where he met with Starmer, Emmanuel Macron and Friedrich Merz on Sunday.

In a joint statement on Sunday night, the leaders called on Putin to agree to "an immediate and complete ceasefire" and condemned Russia's "large-scale missile and drone attacks" on Ukrainian cities.

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