Starmer tells Abramovich to 'pay up now' or face court

BBC News - WorldCenterEN 2 min read 100% complete December 17, 2025 at 03:45 PM

AI Summary

medium article 2 min

Keir Starmer and the UK government are pressuring Roman Abramovich to release the £2.5 billion from the sale of Chelsea Football Club, which has been frozen in a British bank account since 2022. Abramovich had pledged the funds to victims of the war in Ukraine, but a dispute arose over whether the money should benefit only Ukrainians or all victims, including Russians. The government insists the money be used for humanitarian aid in Ukraine, as per the license issued for the transfer. Starmer has warned Abramovich to "pay up now" or face court action to ensure the funds reach Ukrainian victims of the war. The government has threatened legal action since June and is prepared to sue Abramovich if he doesn't honor his commitment.

Key Entities & Roles

Key Player Opposition Context

Chelsea Football Club ×240% Ukraine ×350% Yvette Cooper 60% Sir Keir Starmer ×270% Roman Abramovich ×480%

Keywords

roman abramovich 100% ukraine war victims 90% frozen assets 80% humanitarian aid 70% chelsea football club 70% court action 60% uk sanctions 60% keir starmer 50% russian oligarch 50% putin's war 40%

Sentiment Analysis

Negative

Score: -0.30

Source Transparency

Source

BBC News - World

Political Lean

Center (0.00)

Far LeftCenterFar Right

Classification Confidence

90%

Geographic Perspective

Ukraine

This article was automatically classified using rule-based analysis. The political bias score ranges from -1 (far left) to +1 (far right).

Topic Connections

Explore how the topics in this article connect to other news stories

No topic relationship data available yet. This graph will appear once topic relationships have been computed.

roman abramovich ukraine war victims frozen assets humanitarian aid chelsea football club court action uk sanctions keir starmer russian oligarch putin's war

Explore Full Topic Graph