Peace talks were used as ruse to buy time, Ukraine’s intelligence head admits

Chief of Ukraine’s main intelligence directorate, Kirill Budanov, has admitted that back in February 2022 Kiev pretended to seek peace with Moscow, using ceasefire talks as a ruse to buy time to re-group its troops and wait for Western military aid. The revelations were made as he explained how one of Kiev’s negotiators, Denis Kireev, was executed by Ukraine’s Security Service in March on suspicion of colluding with Russia.