Russia Sends FSB Chief to Face Budanov at Peace Talks After His Unit Was Linked to Plot to Kill Him

Russia has included a senior Federal Security Service (FSB) official whose department was previously linked to an assassination attempt against Kyrylo Budanov in its delegation for talks with Ukraine and the United States in Abu Dhabi. Russian independent outlet Agentstvo reported that Dmitry Minayev, head of the FSB’s counterintelligence operations department, was named in the delegation’s expert group.JOIN US ON TELEGRAMFollow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official. Budanov, now Ukraine’s presidential chief of staff, is also participating in the talks as a member of the Ukrainian delegation. Agentstvo reported that Ukrainian officials interviewed by The Wall Street Journal had linked Minayev’s department to an unsuccessful attempt to kill Budanov in 2019, before he became head of Ukraine’s military intelligence (HUR). Those officials also linked the department to the 2017 car bombings that killed Ukrainian intelligence officers Maksym Shapoval and Oleksandr Kharaberiush. Minayev is one of four officials on the published list who had not participated in previous delegations of this format. The others are Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, senior FSB official Alexei Komkov and Foreign Ministry arms control official Oleg Postnikov. Russia’s main negotiating group includes presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky, Deputy Foreign Ministers Mikhail Galuzin and Ryabkov, Komkov and military intelligence chief Igor Kostyukov. Other Topics of Interest US Urges Russia to Let Europe Join Ukraine Talks Witkoff and Kushner want the Abu Dhabi round to be the last without full European participation, according to US officials cited by Politico. The expert group includes military officials Yuri Zhigarlovsky and Alexander Zorin, Kremlin humanitarian policy official Elena Podobreyevskaya and Foreign Ministry official Alexei Polishchuk, alongside Minayev and Postnikov. Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich also identified Minayev’s department as responsible for a campaign of detaining American citizens in Russia to secure the release of convicted Russian assassin Vadim Krasikov. Gershkovich himself became one of those detained. Komkov, the other FSB representative in the main negotiating group, previously held senior positions in the agency’s internal security directorate. He became deputy head of military counterintelligence in 2019 and took charge of the FSB’s operational information and international relations service in 2024. The first day of trilateral negotiations involving Ukraine, the US, and Russia ended in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the UAE, on Tuesday, Nov. 10, as the three countries seek to narrow their differences over ending Russia’s war against Ukraine. Russia’s state news agency TASS reported that the first day of negotiations had concluded after 4.5 hours. Ukraine’s Foreign Intelligence Service also confirmed that the talks had ended. The next round of trilateral negotiations is scheduled for Nov. 11. Dmytro Lytvyn, a communications adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, told journalists that Zelensky had already spoken briefly with the Ukrainian delegation and would hold a more detailed conversation with its members later. The two-day talks are expected to focus on security guarantees for Ukraine, a possible ceasefire and mechanisms to monitor compliance, as well as a post-war security arrangement. Kyiv Post is Ukraine’s first and oldest English news organization, reporting since 1995. Its international reach – 90% of readers are outside of Ukraine – make it truly Ukraine’s global voice.