Budanov believes that a ceasefire in Ukraine could happen this year
20 February 14:57
The head of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry, Kyrylo Budanov, believes that it is possible to achieve a ceasefire in the Russian-Ukrainian war in 2025.
He said this in an interview with journalist Eynulla Fatullayev, Komersant ukrainskyi reports.
When asked whether it would be possible to achieve a ceasefire this year, Budanov expressed “only his own opinion.”
“I think so. […] This is a paradoxical situation, despite the fact that the starting positions of the parties are diametrically opposed, I think we will reach a ceasefire this year. How long it will last and how effective it will be is another question.”
After that, he commented on Ukraine’s receipt of security guarantees, citing the deployment of peacekeeping forces as an example. Then the head of the GUR asked to name at least one country where the deployment of peacekeepers worked, and the journalist replied: “Nowhere”.
“That’s the answer. Maybe somewhere, but I don’t remember such a case. I asked around, looked at many examples, but nowhere. So can this be considered a guarantee? I doubt it,” Budanov said.
He called the issue of guarantees “debatable.” The intelligence chief added that the NATO issue is “very complicated,” and there is no other format that can be called a guarantee, and “not a declaration or a hope.”
“Perhaps this is something from the series of states that have the status of ‘major non-NATO ally of the United States,’ but again, this is no longer a question of security guarantees, but of commitments to support the state, but nothing more,” he said.
