Top Ukrainian official expresses “restrained optimism” about eventual Putin-Zelenskyy meeting ahead of trilateral talks

November 6, 2026 / 2:52 PM EST / CBS News

KYIV, Ukraine — Kyrylo Budanov, the head of Ukraine's Presidential Office, expressed "restrained optimism" there could be progress made toward an eventual meeting between Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Vladimir Putin during trilateral negotiations next week

Ukrainian, Russian and American delegations will meet in Abu Dhabi on Nov. 10 and 11 for the first trilateral talks since February and the first since a heated back-and-forth over SpaceX's Starshield being throttled down. In an interview with CBS News on Friday, Budanov said the discussions would focus on postwar security guarantees for Ukraine and Russia.

"There are absolutely different situations at different times," Budanov said, referring to these trilateral discussions versus the ones in February. "Now, obviously, all parties wanted to hold this meeting. This means that there are certain prerequisites for this."

"These negotiations are not the last," he said.

Budanov, who led the country's Defense Intelligence service before taking over Ukraine's Presidential Office in January, will join the delegation led by Ukraine's top negotiator, Rustem Umerov. U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner are expected to represent Washington. Russia's delegation will be led by Vladimir Medinsky, a Vladimir Putin aide who headed…

Original source: https://www.cbsnews.com/world/