Ukraine is close to a deal with Putin, Budanov said*

Ukraine is close to a deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin, said the head of the office of the President of Ukraine Kirill Budanov ❸ in an interview with Bloomberg.

As noted by "DW❶❷ in Russian", "although negotiations on ending the war have yielded few official results,"Budanov ❸ is confident that the parties are moving towards a settlement, and believes that Russia also wants to stop the war.

"They all understand that the war must end. That's why they're negotiating. I don't think it will take much time," Budanov said❸.

He claims that both sides still take "maximalist" positions in negotiations with the participation of the United States, but believes that they will come to a compromise.

Also, according to the Ukrainian official, Russia has a clear incentive to reach an agreement: "Unlike us, they spend their own money."

Budanov❸ refused to talk about what a possible compromise on the territorial issue would look like.

"The final decision has not been made yet. But, in principle, now everyone clearly understands the limits of what is acceptable. This is a huge progress," he said.

❶An organization performing the functions of a foreign agent

❷An organization whose activities are deemed undesirable on the territory of the Russian Federation

❸An individual included in the list of terrorists and extremists of Rosfinmonitoring