According to K. Budanov, the connection with J. Prigozhin was cut off just before the June 2023 “Wagner” rebellion. He did not provide any further contact details.
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Until now, personal negotiations between K. Budanov and J. Prigozhin were not known. In May 2023, The Washington Post, citing leaked US intelligence information, wrote that J. Prigozhin maintained contact with Ukrainian intelligence and offered to reveal Russian military positions in exchange for the withdrawal of Ukrainian forces from Bakhmut.
Documents also revealed that J. Prigozhin spoke on the phone with GUR employees and met with Ukrainian intelligence officers in one African country. At that time, two Ukrainian officials confirmed to The Washington Post that J. Prigozhin had spoken several times with GUR representatives, but the newspaper did not report on his direct conversations with K. Budanov.
J. Prigozhin himself called this information fake after the intelligence data leak and joked: “Of course, I can confirm this information. We generally have nothing to hide from foreign special services. Budanov and I are still in Africa.”
After the “Wagner” rebellion, K. Budanov refused to comment on the “rumors” about his contacts with J. Prigozhin, notes the “Agentstvo” portal.
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War end forecast
In an interview with The New York Times, K. Budanov also noted that the conditions necessary for a ceasefire are unlikely to be met before spring 2027.
The publication notes that Russia will most likely try to break Ukraine’s resistance through winter bombings. However, K. Budanov emphasized his hope that negotiations will eventually yield results: “You cannot fight forever.”
Budanov’s role
K. Budanov has been heading the Ukrainian President’s office since January 2, 2026. After this appointment, he became one of Kyiv’s main negotiators for war regulation. K. Budanov was involved in the peace process even earlier: in November 2025, Volodymyr Zelensky included him in the Ukrainian delegation for negotiations with the US, other partners, and Russia.
Additionally, K. Budanov maintained contacts for several years with the head of the Russian Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU), Igor Kostyukov – their first negotiations on Black Sea shipping took place in 2022, and later they cooperated on prisoner exchanges, writes “Agentstvo”.
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