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 favorite city,” Fridman wrote in the letter, excerpts of which Reuters saw.
“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.”
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 aluminum 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 US 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.
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.
“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.
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.
“Businessmen understand very well the consequences. But who is asking the opinion of business about this?”
Two of Russia’s billionaires call for peace in Ukraine
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Two of Russia’s billionaires call for peace in Ukraine
- 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
US halts some Medicaid payments to Minnesota, alleging fraud
- Human rights advocates and Trump critics say the administration is using fraud allegations as an excuse to target immigrants and political opponents
WASHINGTON: The Trump administration is withholding more than a quarter of a million dollars of Medicaid funding from Minnesota, saying the state allowed the theft of federal funds intended for social-welfare programs in the state.
US Vice President JD Vance and Dr. Mehmet Oz, who oversees the Medicaid health care program for low-income households, announced the temporary halt at a joint press conference on Wednesday, where they criticized Minnesota Governor Tim Walz’s administration for not doing enough to combat fraud.
“We are stopping the federal payments that will go to the state government until the state government takes its obligations seriously,” Vance said.
Walz fired back on social media, accusing the administration of attempting to punish Democratic-run states.
“This has nothing to do with fraud,” he said in a post on X. “This is a campaign of retribution. Trump is weaponizing the entirety of the federal government to punish blue states like Minnesota.”
Republican President Donald Trump’s administration has used fraud allegations in Minnesota as part of its justification for a months-long immigration crackdown in the state, during which federal agents shot and killed two US citizens, and for freezing funds meant for social programs.
Administration officials have pointed to a scandal that began during the COVID-19 pandemic, when the Department of Justice indicted 47 people for allegedly defrauding $250 million from a federally funded child nutrition program.
Walz, a Democrat, said the latest withholding of Medicaid funding would be devastating for families, veterans and people with disabilities.
GOVERNMENT WITHHOLDS $259 MILLION IN MEDICAID FUNDS
Oz said the federal government had paused the payment of $259 million of deferred Medicaid payments to Minnesota following an audit, and would hold on to the funds until the state government proposes “a comprehensive corrective action plan.” He added that Walz had 60 days to respond.
Vance and Oz also announced a six-month nationwide moratorium blocking durable medical equipment suppliers — including for prosthesis, orthotics and other items — from enrolling in Medicaid, saying such suppliers had become a source of fraud.
Oz, citing an estimate from the non-profit Kaiser Family Foundation, said $300 billion a year is spent nationwide on health care that is “fraudulent, abusive or wasteful.” Of that, the federal portion is around $100 billion, he said.
The administration will soon announce additional actions targeting other states, he said, citing issues with health care fraud in southern Florida, California and New York.
Trump has tapped Vance to spearhead an administration “war on fraud” and created the new role of assistant attorney general for national fraud enforcement to lead the Justice Department’s investigation and prosecution of fraud that affects the federal government and federally funded programs.
Trump has repeatedly attempted to withhold funding from Democratic-led states, although such cuts have frequently been blocked by federal judges who found the actions potentially retaliatory or legally flawed.
Human rights advocates and Trump critics say the administration is using fraud allegations as an excuse to target immigrants and political opponents.
