Budanov reveals years of back-channel contacts with Russia's GRU chief and Prigozhin, advises Zelensky against Donbas concessions
Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Kyrylo Budanov said in an interview with The New York Times published on 4 September that he maintained long-running contacts with Russian military intelligence chief Admiral Igor Kostyukov and the late Wagner founder Yevgeny Prigozhin. He advised President Volodymyr Zelensky not to accept any compromise on Donbas that would give Russia formal control over territory its military failed to seize on the battlefield.
Key points
- Budanov, head of the Office of the President of Ukraine since early January 2026, also leads the Ukrainian delegation in talks with Russia.
- In an interview with The New York Times published on 4 September, Budanov said he maintained contacts with Russian military intelligence (GRU) and the Wagner private military company.
- He said he frequently communicated with GRU chief Admiral Igor Kostyukov, with first negotiations in 2022 mediated by Turkey on opening Black Sea shipping routes for grain.
- Budanov said he also communicated regularly with Wagner founder Yevgeny Prigozhin until the 2023 Wagner mutiny and Prigozhin's death in a plane explosion.
- He advised President Zelensky not to agree to any compromise on Donbas that would allow Russia to gain formal control, including by raising the Russian flag there.
- By the Abu Dhabi talks in January–February 2026, a 20-point draft peace agreement had narrowed to two issues: governance of the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant and control over the still Ukrainian-held part of Donbas.
- On 28 August Budanov said Russia does not currently want to stop the war and its end should not be expected in the coming winter, while suggesting talks could resume in September.
Why it matters
Budanov heads the Ukrainian delegation in talks with Russia, which makes his on-the-record account of the negotiation channel especially significant. He confirmed that parallel back-channel contacts with the head of Russian military intelligence continued even after combat operations between their forces, including a 2024 Ukrainian strike on a GRU strongpoint at a cement plant in Vovchansk that inflicted significant losses on Kostyukov's fighters. His advice to Zelensky directly sets the political ceiling of any deal on the two most contentious issues in the current peace draft: governance of the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant and the part of Donbas still held by Ukraine.
What happened
In an interview with The New York Times published on 4 September 2026, Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Kyrylo Budanov said he had maintained contacts with Russian military intelligence and the Wagner private military company over several years. He said he frequently communicated with GRU chief Admiral Igor Kostyukov, with first negotiations in 2022 mediated by Turkey on opening Black Sea shipping corridors for grain transport. He added that the dialogue continued even after Ukrainian intelligence inflicted significant losses on Kostyukov's forces during a 2024 assault on a GRU strongpoint at a cement plant in Vovchansk, and said the talks yielded significant results, including on prisoner-of-war issues. Budanov also said he regularly communicated with Wagner founder Yevgeny Prigozhin until the 2023 Wagner mutiny against the Kremlin and Prigozhin's death in a plane explosion. Budanov advised President Volodymyr Zelensky not to agree to any compromise on Donbas that would allow Russia to gain formal control, including by raising the Russian flag there, arguing that handing the territory to Moscow would give the Kremlin a prize its military had been unable to take on the battlefield. He said both sides understand they need to seek a solution because the war cannot last forever, even though they cannot fully trust each other while at war. On 28 August, in an earlier interview with Natalia Moseichuk, Budanov said Russia does not currently want to stop the war and its end should not be expected in the coming winter, while suggesting negotiations could resume in September.
How international sources describe it
The disclosure is mediated almost entirely through the original New York Times interview of 4 September, which the Ukrainian outlets relay. The supplied metadata contains no separately published international outlet to contrast with.
Background
The first trilateral Ukraine-Russia-US meeting took place on 23-24 January 2026, with the Ukrainian delegation then led by Rustem Umerov. A second round was held in Abu Dhabi on 4-5 February 2026. By the time of the Abu Dhabi rounds, a 20-point draft peace agreement had narrowed to two unresolved issues: governance of the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant and control over the part of Donbas still held by Ukraine, including the strategically important Sloviansk-Kramatorsk agglomeration. Budanov became head of the Office of the President of Ukraine in early January 2026 and has said one of the main reasons he accepted the post was to lead the negotiations. His first contact with Kostyukov, in 2022 and mediated by Turkey, concerned the opening of Black Sea shipping routes for grain transport, and talks with Prigozhin ran until the 2023 Wagner mutiny and Prigozhin's death in a plane explosion. On 28 August Budanov said Russia does not currently want to stop the war and its end should not be expected in the coming winter, while also saying negotiations would resume soon.