As tough US sanctions against Russia over the Ukraine war are in full force, two wealthy Russians continue to sidestep them, possibly due to their history of dining with US President Joe Biden and his notorious son Hunter. According to The New York Post, Russian billionaires Yelena Baturina and Vladimir Yevtushenkov bought land years ago and had dinner with Biden when he was vice president.
Sources who spoke to the outlet revealed that the Russian duo were recently able to dodge the latest sanctions announced by the Treasury Department on Friday. "I think it's very suspicious," said Michael McFaul, a former US ambassador to Russia under Barack Obama, of Yevtushenkov, who faces sanctions from other nations including Britain and Australia.
“I think it should be sanctioned.I don't understand why he wasn't there," McFaul said. Last year, Yevtushenkov admitted he met Hunter Biden over breakfast at the Ritz-Carlton in Manhattan in 2012, but did not admit to having any further contacts with the 53-year-old. However, Hunter Biden's abandoned laptop tells a different story.
What was found on the laptop?
emails and calendar events found on the laptop show the duo were scheduled to meet for dinner at DC's Cafe Milano next year in 2013 before heading to a commercial building near Virginia Dulles International Airport the next day ."I asked [Yevtushenkov] at the beginning: 'Why are you doing this?' before I understood that they were going to buy a property. 'Why are you doing this? Why would he pay the vice president's son to meet at a
public restaurant in New York City?" the source said.
On the other hand, another source told the outlet that Baturina and her husband Yury Luzhkov, the former mayor of Moscow, met with Joe Biden and his son Hunter in 2015. In an email, Hunter wrote that the dinner "apparently would take place" over his prospects as president of the US World Food Program (WFP). Another source said Joe Biden, then Vice President, joined the group 40 minutes later and also posed for a photo.
