Ukraine intelligence chief signals possible progress in talks with Russia

Ukraine’s top negotiator with Russia, Kyrylo Budanov, has said he sees potential progress toward a peace deal with the Kremlin, suggesting that a resolution to the war may not take a long time to achieve.

While public negotiations aimed at ending Europe’s deadliest conflict since World War II have so far produced limited results, Budanov expressed cautious optimism that discussions are moving toward a possible settlement. He said he believed that Russia also had an interest in ending the war, Bloomberg reports. 

He stated that all sides understood the conflict needed to end and indicated that this was why negotiations were continuing, adding that he did not expect the process to take long.

Budanov acknowledged that both sides had so far maintained “maximalist” positions in US-mediated talks, but said he believed they would gradually move closer together in search of a compromise.

He also argued that Russia had a clear incentive to reach an agreement, noting that Moscow was financing the war at significant cost, which he described as amounting to “huge sums” already in the trillions.

At the same time, he declined to comment on what a potential territorial compromise might look like, describing it as the most difficult issue in the negotiations.

By Sabina Mammadli