Warren Buffett's son met Zelenskyy in Kyiv this week and offered to help rebuild Ukraine and support its people

• Warren Buffett's son met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv this week.
• Zelenskyy invited Howard Buffett to help rebuild infrastructure and clear landmines.

Warren Buffett's son met with Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv this week, and offered to help the Ukrainian president rebuild his war-torn country and support its citizens as Russia's invasion rages on.

Zelenskyy invited Howard Buffett to help restore irrigation in the port city of Odessa, assist displaced people, clear landmines, and reform school meals, the Ukrainian president said in a Wednesday tweet.

The elder son of the billionaire investor and Berkshire Hathaway CEO, who is the head of the Howard G. Buffett foundation and a former sheriff of Macon County, Illinois, also showed his support for Zelenskyy with a gift.

"You're the top law man here in Ukraine, so I'm giving you my old sheriff badge from when I was sheriff," Buffett said. "So no one can question you're number one."

Buffett's foundation focuses on humanitarian and conservation issues, and counts global food security, conflict mitigation, and public safety among its top priorities. It commanded $529 million in assets at the end of 2020, largely reflecting annual contributions from Warren Buffett. For example, the investor's gift of Berkshire stock last year was worth $223 million at the time of donation.

While the younger Buffett has publicly embraced Zelenskyy, his father has refrained from publicly commenting on the conflict. The Berkshire boss recently declared he would stop speaking out on certain subjects, as he didn't want to risk angering people and sparking boycotts of Berkshire businesses that would hurt his employees and shareholders.

However, the 91-year-old stock picker has previously said he avoids investing in Russia after facing threats of violence and asset seizure there. His business partner, Charlie Munger, compared Russian President Vladimir Putin's last invasion of Ukraine to Nazi leader Adolf Hitler's rampage across Europe during World War II.

More generally, the Berkshire chief has warned against hoarding cash, gold, or bitcoin during wars, and trumpeted stocks as the safest long-term investment.

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