Lt. Gen. Kyrylo Budanov, the head of Ukraine’s Office of the President (OP) and one of Kyiv’s key negotiators in talks with Moscow, said the Kremlin is still attempting to assassinate him even as he leads peace efforts. Budanov served as head of Ukraine’s military intelligence agency (HUR) from August 2020 until January this year, when he was appointed head of the OP.JOIN US ON TELEGRAMFollow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official. In his first interview with British media since taking up his new role, published by The Times on May 15, Budanov said he had survived at least 10 assassination attempts and described it as “absolutely normal” given his role and Russia’s ongoing operations against Ukrainian intelligence figures. Can peace talks still succeed despite the threats? Despite the ongoing threats to his life, Budanov said he believes the peace process can still lead to an end to the war. “Any ways, forms and methods of work are good if they produce that result. I don’t engage in matters I don’t believe in… I believe in the negotiation process… [its] completion and the result.” He said his experience as HUR’s former head gives him an advantage in negotiations, including access to longstanding intelligence networks inside Russia and established channels used for prisoner exchanges. “We dealt with them for many years, so believe me, I know how to talk to them,” he said. However, he noted that a planned “1,000-for-1,000” prisoner swap was reduced to 205 prisoners, and no new talks have been scheduled.