"He'd like me to be there, and that's a possibility. ... I don't know that he would be there if I'm not there. We're going to find out," U.S. President Donald Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One while traveling to Qatar, Reuters reported.
Trump has long demanded that NATO allies increase their military spending, previously calling for the alliance to raise its benchmark from 2% to 5% of GDP.
More than 1,000 Russian government entities and 1,200 private companies are involved in the economy of occupied Mariupol, a major southeastern city occupied by Russia after it invaded Ukraine in 2022, according to a research paper published on May 14.
The measures target almost 200 ships of Russia's "shadow fleet," 30 companies involved in sanctions evasion, 75 sanctions on entities and individuals linked to the Russian military-industrial complex, and more.
The government has approved "reform roadmaps in the rule of law, public administration, and democratic institutions, as well as Ukraine’s negotiation position," Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said.
The statement did not name the ex-official by name, but details of the case indicate it relates to Oleh Hladkovsky, a former deputy secretary of Ukraine's top security body who has been wanted since mid-April.
Brazilian President Lula da Silva claimed that Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha had appealed to his Brazilian counterpart, Mauro Vieira, to ask Putin if he was willing to conclude a peace agreement.
"Trump needs to believe that Putin actually lies," Zelensky told journalists in Kyiv. "And we should do our part. Sensibly approach this issue, to show that it’s not us that is slowing down the process."
The EU plans to significantly increase tariffs on Ukrainian goods after the current duty-free deal lapses on June 6, the Financial Times reported on May 14, citing undisclosed diplomatic sources.
The blockade ended at 10:30 p.m. local time. Truck traffic in both directions is now moving as usual, according to Ukraine's State Border Guard's statement.
Russian leader Vladimir Putin (center L) and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (center R) visit the Vostochny Cosmodrome in Russia's Amur Oblast on Sept. 13, 2023. (Mikhail Metzel/Pool/AFP via Getty Images)
Ukraine's Air Force cannot yet say for certain that Russia has used North Korean ballistic missiles in attacks on Ukraine, Air Force spokesperson Yurii Ihnat said on national television on Jan. 5.
U.S. National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said on Jan. 4 that Russia has already used ballistic missiles supplied by North Korea to attack Ukraine, building upon statements by unnamed U.S. officials to the Washington Post and Wall Street Journal that North Korea had begun providing Russia with missiles and launchers.
Ihnat said the confirmation that the missiles originated from North Korea came from the U.S., but that Ukrainian specialists are yet to study the fragments and identify if they can be definitively traced to North Korea.
Many weapons in North Korea's arsenal date back to the Soviet era, and can be indistinguishable from those that Russia possesses, he added.
Washington confirmed increased weapons and ammunition transfers from North Korea to Russia following a meeting between Russian leader Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in September.
South Korean intelligence reports claim that North Korea has delivered more than a million shells to Russia.
According to Kirby, at least one North Korean-provided missile landed in an open field in Zaporizhzhia Oblast on Dec. 30.
Russia also used multiple North Korean missiles to strike Ukraine on Jan. 2, Kirby said, including as part of its overnight mass attack that killed five people and injured 130 more.
Nate Ostiller is a former News Editor at the Kyiv Independent. He works on special projects as a researcher and writer for The Red Line Podcast, covering Eastern Europe and Eurasia, and focused primarily on digital misinformation, memory politics, and ethnic conflict. Nate has a Master’s degree in Russian and Eurasian Studies from the University of Glasgow, and spent two years studying abroad at Kyiv-Mohyla Academy in Ukraine. Originally from the USA, he is currently based in Tbilisi, Georgia.
Katie Marie Davies
