The £2.35 billion Chelsea sale fund will spend a third new year in limbo as Roman Abramovich remains at loggerheads with ministers over how it is spent on war victims.

A saga stretching back to spring 2022 rumbles on as the Labour government holds the same line as the Conservatives in insisting the huge sum is spent only in Ukraine.

Proceeds of the sale remain in a frozen account as a result, with only a small down payment released to cover legal costs in setting up a proposed foundation.

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office maintains the Government will “double down” on efforts to reach a solution in the coming months.

Humanitarian charities grow increasingly desperate for a breakthrough, however, fearful that discussions will be thrown further into chaos if UK sanction arrangements against Russia were to change.