Ukraine’s intelligence chief Budanov predicts that his country and Russia will reach a ceasefire in 2025, as the US pushes for negotiations.
“Despite the diametrically opposed positions of the two sides, I still believe that we will reach a ceasefire this year,” General Kyrylo Budanov, head of the Main Intelligence Directorate of Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence Agency (GUR), said in a new interview published on YouTube.
“How long the ceasefire will last and how effective it will be is another question. However, I still think that an agreement will be reached. Most of the necessary conditions are ready,” the official added.
However, General Budanov expressed skepticism about the effectiveness of the Western option of sending peacekeepers to Ukraine after the ceasefire. “The deployment of peacekeepers has not been effective in any country,” the official said.
Mr. Budanov’s statement contradicted an earlier call by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Mr. Zelensky said on January 21 that Europe needs to send at least 200,000 peacekeepers to Ukraine to protect the country from the risk of being attacked again by Russia, in case the two sides reach a ceasefire agreement.
Ukrainian officials have previously dismissed the idea of a ceasefire with Russia, saying it would only buy Moscow time to rearm and prepare for further aggression.
However, talk of a ceasefire in Ukraine has intensified since US President Donald Trump returned to the White House. Trump has repeatedly vowed to quickly end the Russia-Ukraine conflict after taking office.
The US president has made a series of lightning-fast diplomatic moves, starting with a phone call with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin a week ago, in which the two sides agreed to begin a roadmap towards a peaceful solution for Ukraine.
Russian and US delegations met in Saudi Arabia on February 18 to discuss a range of issues, including ending the conflict in Ukraine, but did not invite representatives of Kiev and the European Union (EU) to participate.
Kiev and other European countries fear that the Washington-Moscow deal will ignore the continent’s security interests, benefiting Russia and leaving Ukraine and other countries vulnerable to future threats.
