Kyrylo Budanov
Head of Ukraine's presidential office since January 2026; military intelligence chief from 2020 to 2026.
Ukraine's presidential chief of staff sat on Kyiv's TEAM in Miami, where talks with US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner ended on 9 October 2026 after one of two planned days, amid a US warning over intelligence access.
Last refreshed: 12 October 2026 · Appears in 1 active topic
What can Budanov's office offer Washington as US pressure on Kyiv grows?
Timeline for Kyrylo Budanov
Joined Ukraine's delegation in Miami
Russia-Ukraine War 2026: Witkoff's Miami talks end a day earlyWitkoff and Kushner reroute to Pakistan
Russia-Ukraine War 2026Background
Kyrylo Budanov has headed the Office of the President of Ukraine since 2 January 2026, appointed by presidential decree No. 5/2026. The POST makes him Volodymyr Zelenskyy's chief of staff and a fixed member of Kyiv's negotiating team with Washington.
A lieutenant general, he led the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defence (HUR) from August 2020 until that appointment. Lieutenant General Oleh Ivashchenko succeeded him there. In April 2026, still at the HUR, he said he expected Witkoff and Kushner in Kyiv after Orthodox Easter; the envoys flew to Pakistan instead, and reached Kyiv only on 6 September, the day after they met Vladimir Putin in Moscow.
The move put a former spy chief at the centre of Zelenskyy's government. It also ties US leverage over intelligence sharing directly to the man WHO ran Ukraine's military intelligence for more than five years.
The Miami round ended a day early
Budanov joined Rustem Umerov, Davyd Arakhamiia and Sergiy Kyslytsya for the Miami meeting with Witkoff and Kushner. It closed on 9 October after one day of the two planned.
The pressure in the room fell on his old trade. By Axios's account, the envoys threatened the very asset Budanov once managed: US intelligence sharing, which they said Washington could curb because of Ukraine's refinery strikes. Washington also wants three-way technical talks with Russia by the end of October; Zelenskyy said on 4 October that the venue could be the UAE. As head of the presidential office, Budanov now carries the political side of that negotiation as well as its intelligence history.
Who is Kyrylo Budanov and what does he lead?
Is Kyrylo Budanov still head of Ukrainian military intelligence?
Who was in Ukraine's delegation at the October 2026 Miami talks?
