Adel al-Jubeir said on Friday that Riyadh first approached the UK government in April, shortly after the arrest of Aiden Ashlin, a British national, and others in Mariupol, and that it acted on compassionate grounds, hoping to negotiate the their release. Asked if it was a rare opportunity to mend relations with the West, the minister said: “I think it’s a very cynical view. What we saw, what the leadership of the kingdom saw, was an opportunity to achieve a humanitarian breakthrough to facilitate the return of these prisoners to their families. And that’s the motivation.” Saudi Arabia, which has tried to take a softer line towards Russia since the war broke out, has previously said Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was involved in a major diplomatic effort that appears to involve the former Chelsea football club owner. and billionaire Roman. Abramovich. One of the five Britons released, Shaun Pinner, recognized Abramovich on the plane flying them from Russia to Riyadh earlier this week and approached him to ask if he was the former football club owner, the Sun reported . Another of those released, John Harding, recounted the exchange that followed between the two men. “She went up to him on the plane and asked him where he was from and Roman said ‘London’. “Then Shaun said, ‘You really do look like Roman Abramovich’ and he replied, ‘That’s because I’m him, sir.’ He couldn’t believe it.” Five Britons were among 10 people facing the death penalty by pro-Russian separatists who were unexpectedly released earlier this week. All of them had been accused of fighting as mercenaries on behalf of Ukraine and had been tried in violation of the Geneva Conventions covering prisoners of war. Aiden Aslin, 28, returned to his family home near Newark on Thursday, as did the other Britons, including Pinner, with whom he went on trial in June. Aslin, Pinner and Moroccan Brahim Saadoun, who were also released this week, were sentenced to death in a decision that was condemned internationally. Abramovich has not confirmed the reports but the billionaire, who was forced to sell Chelsea after Russia invaded Ukraine, had appeared at failed peace talks between the two sides in Istanbul in March. It is not on the US sanctions list, in part because Ukraine has told Washington it is acting as a mediator. Al Jubeir said the mediation was “an initiative” led by bin Salman that dates back to April. “We learned about the issue of these foreign detainees and he engaged with the UK and others and of course with Russia and Ukraine to work towards the end of their deportation,” the foreign minister added. The Saudi minister said the deal to exchange the 10 foreign nationals was linked to a separate, larger prisoner exchange deal between Ukraine and Russia. “This exchange only took place when the 10 nationals arrived on Saudi soil and were verified and that allowed the other exchange to go ahead,” al-Jubeir said. This implied that Ukraine wanted Russia to show good faith before releasing pro-Russian oligarch Viktor Medvedchuk and 55 other prisoners in exchange for 200 soldiers and five Azov battalion commanders who led the defense of Mariupol. This deal also involved the mediation of the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
