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Ukraine’s peace negotiations are facing information attacks, the head of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s Office, Kyrylo Budanov, said, denying reports of a confrontation with US special envoy Steve Witkoff.
According to Le Monde, citing an unnamed source who attended the meeting, a dispute broke out between Budanov and Witkoff during talks between Ukrainian and US delegations in Florida on October 9.
The report said Budanov reacted sharply to a US-proposed “regional prosperity plan” that would allow Russian gas and oil to transit through Ukraine to Europe again after the war, in exchange for financial dividends.
Witkoff reportedly described the proposal as mutually beneficial. Budanov allegedly responded: “Our model is not Belarus, but Poland.”
The talks were then paused for a phone call to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. According to the report, the meeting ended early after the Ukrainian delegation learned about a Russian-US diesel fuel deal.
Commenting on the reports to RBC-Ukraine, Budanov urged Ukrainians to remain level-headed and keep the main objective in mind: a lasting peace for Ukraine. He said Kyiv was doing everything possible to achieve it.
“The information about supposed insider accounts of the details of our conversations is untrue. Nothing of the sort happened,” Budanov said. “We are currently witnessing information attacks targeting the negotiation process.”
On October 21, Russia announced that the first tanker carrying 40,000 tonnes of diesel fuel would be sent to the United States “in two to three days.” The vessel is expected to arrive in early November.
Axios reported that US President Donald Trump decided to pursue the fuel deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin after Zelenskyy ignored several requests from Washington to halt strikes on Russian oil refineries.
Zelenskyy, meanwhile, said Ukraine had proposed two options for an energy ceasefire. Putin rejected the first, while Trump ignored the second, according to the Ukrainian president.
