Bank of America ends call after ‘pro-Russian’ remarks: report

Bank of America reportedly ended an online client conference earlier than planned this week after some speakers triggered an uproar by making remarks that were deemed pro-Russian.

The bank nixed three planned informational sessions that would have covered topics related to the Russia-Ukraine war, such as US economic sanctions against Moscow and the state of US-Russian relations, the Financial Times reported on Thursday.

The conference was originally planned as a two-day event beginning Tuesday.

A pair of attendees told the outlet that BofA Securities’ head of international relations, Daniel Sheehan, criticized Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during the event.

Sheehan allegedly described Zelensky as a “master manipulator and mimic” and a subject of “serious concerns” among US officials, according to the report.

A bank spokesperson reportedly pushed back on the characterization of the remarks made by Sheehan and said he was referring to views held by others, not his personal opinion.

Another speaker, University of Rhode Island professor Nicolai Petro, reportedly rankled some guests with his views on the Russia-Ukraine war.

In remarks from the event that he shared with the FT, Petro described Ukraine as “the overwhelming loser” of the war “under any scenario.”

“If this is what Russia meant by removing Ukraine’s capacity to wage war against Russia, then it will arguably have won,” Petro said.

Petro fired back in an interview with the FT, saying that his critics had “really not listened” to what he had said during the speech.

Petro also alleged that the Biden administration stood to gain from a prolonged Russia-Ukraine war rather than a cease-fire.

Two other unnamed guests defended Petro and downplayed the idea that his comments were overtly pro-Russian.

Nevertheless, the backlash to the event was so severe that a Bank of America strategist reportedly called some clients to apologize for the situation, according to the FT.

“It was more like Bank of Russia than Bank of America,” one unnamed guest told the FT. “The whole event was overwhelmingly pro-Russian.”

Economist Timothy Ash of BlueBay Asset Management was also critical of the messages shared during the online conference and confronted Petro with a series of questions after his speech.

“I still don’t get why US banks still wheel out speakers at events for clients who so often roll thru Moscow’s talking points on the war in Ukraine,” tweeted economist Timothy Ash of BlueBay Asset Management, who was one of the conference’s attendees.

“If I recall it is [Russian President Vladimir] Putin who has been indicted for war crimes in Ukraine, not Joe Biden,” Ash added.

Ash expanded on his criticism of Bank of America’s handling of the event in an interview with the FT.

“Clearly Moscow is in an information war with the west. It has an interest in influencing how western banks portray the conflict, and banks need to be mindful of that,” Ash said.

Bank of America confirmed that it had issued an apology to any clients who were offended.

“All our external speakers are independent and the diverse views expressed are their own,” the bank said in a statement to the FT. “We have apologized to those clients who voiced their displeasure at some of the views expressed.”

Bank of America representatives did not immediately return The Post’s request for further comment.