The chancellor and foreign secretary are threatening to take Roman Abramovich to court to seize the proceeds of his Chelsea FC sale.

The Russian oligarch, who is sanctioned by the UK government over his alleged links to Vladimir Putin, sold Chelsea for £2.5bn to an American consortium in 2022, after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Those funds remain in a frozen UK bank account but are meant to be used for humanitarian causes linked to the Ukraine war.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves and Foreign Secretary David Lammy have now said they are “deeply frustrated” an agreement cannot be reached with the oligarch and will take him to court if it cannot be dealt with soon.

In a joint statement, they said: “The government is determined to see the proceeds from the sale of Chelsea Football Club reach humanitarian causes in Ukraine, following Russia’s illegal full-scale invasion.

“We are deeply frustrated that it has not been possible to reach agreement on this with Mr Abramovich so far.

“While the door for negotiations will remain open, we are fully prepared to pursue this through the courts if required, to ensure people suffering in Ukraine can benefit from these proceeds as soon as possible.”

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Abramovich was forced to sell Chelsea – which he bought for a reported £140m – after 19 years of ownership, after being sanctioned by the government over his alleged close ties to the Russian president – something he denies.

The sale was made under the supervision of the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation, under the proviso the proceeds go to humanitarian aid in Ukraine.

They cannot be moved or used without a licence from the office.

In March, the Foreign Office said officials were in talks with Abramovich’s representatives, but multiple sources told the BBC there had been no meetings between any Labour ministers and members of the foundation set up to oversee the funds since last July’s general election.

They said there was a deadlock and a political decision by a minister is needed to negotiate and sign off an agreement.

It is not known if there have been meetings in the three months since then.

The £2.5bn – and interest accrued – would make up for some of the reduction in the aid budget, announced in February.

Human remains have been found as part of an investigation into the disappearance of a Polish woman 15 years ago.

Izabela Zablocka was living in the Normanton area of Derby but lost contact with her family in August 2010, when she was 30, and has never been found.

However, new information came to light last week and a murder investigation was launched.

Derbyshire Police said remains believed to belong to Ms Zablocka had now been discovered in the garden of a property on Princes Street in Normanton.

A 39-year-old woman who was arrested on suspicion of murder was re-arrested on Monday.

Two other women, aged 39 and 43, and a 41-year-old man arrested last week remain on bail.

Detective Inspector Kane Martin said formal identification hadn’t yet taken place but it’s believed the remains belong to Ms Zablocka.

“As such, we have spoken with Izabela’s family in Poland, and they are aware. Our thoughts are with them at this extremely difficult time,” he said.

“Identification of the remains is likely to be a lengthy process, but we will issue updates when we are able.”

Police will remain at the address for now as they try to gather more evidence on Ms Zablocka’s death.

A £20,000 reward is being offered until 27 August for information that leads to a conviction. Anyone who wants to get in touch is urged to contact the Crimestoppers charity.

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DI Martin added: “We know that someone out there will have information about Izabela that may help us understand what happened to her, and urge anyone who saw, spoke to, or heard anything about Izabela in July or August 2010 to come forward.

“You may hold the key piece of information that we need to understand the full circumstances of Izabela’s disappearance, and to give her family answers on what happened to their loved one.”

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