Ukraine's Presidential Office chief issues statement on war's end
Photo: Kyrylo Budanov (Getty Images)
Peace talks between Kyiv and Moscow are moving toward an agreement, and resolving the war in Ukraine may not take long, Kyrylo Budanov, head of the Office of the President, says in an interview with Bloomberg.
According to him, progress is being made in the negotiations with Russia. Budanov is also convinced that the process will not drag on.
"They all understand that the war must end. That is why they are negotiating. I don't think it will take long," he says.
The Head of the Presidential Office acknowledges that until now, both sides have held maximalist positions in the US-mediated negotiations, but they are gradually moving toward a compromise. He notes that Russia has a clear incentive to reach an agreement.
"Unlike us, they are spending their own funds. These are enormous sums, already in the trillions," Budanov states.
At the same time, he declines to say what a possible compromise might look like regarding the territorial issue, which is the most difficult in the negotiations.
Bloomberg, citing sources in the Kremlin, notes that the negotiations have reached an impasse, and the parties have merely reaffirmed positions that remain unacceptable to one another.
Peace negotiations in Ukraine
Yesterday, Budanov stated that strikes on Russia's oil terminals were affecting the negotiation process. For this reason, Ukraine will hear a lot of new things from the Russians at the next round of talks.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy rejected any exchange of Donbas territory for other regions. He stated that Russia understood it would not be able to hold onto the border territories, and the time would come when the Ukrainian Armed Forces would drive the Russians out of there.
Bloomberg recently reported, citing sources, that the US believed that, despite Washington’s shift in focus to the Middle East, negotiations between Russia and Ukraine were still possible.
