Flight MH17 departed from Amsterdam Schiphol Airport en-route to Kuala Lumpur International Airport on July 17, 2014. Three hours into the flight, the Boeing-777 was shot down by Russian proxy forces using a Buk surface-to-air missile above Ukraine’s Donetsk Oblast.
"I am grateful for the support and the readiness at the highest level to promote diplomacy," President Volodymyr Zelensky said of the phone conservation with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. "We share the same view on the need for a ceasefire."
The convictions mark a significant development in Britain's efforts to counter Russian intelligence operations amid heightened tensions stemming from Moscow's war against Ukraine and repeated Kremlin threats toward Kyiv's allies.
According to the Verkhovna Rada's website, Ukraine completed the ratification of the U.S.-Ukraine minerals agreement on May 12. President Volodymyr Zelensky signed the deal.
"I myself have heard relatives talking: our village is being attacked, let's roll the car out of the garage, maybe they will shell it — at least we will get money. The car is old, we can't sell it," Belgorod Oblast Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said.
The new tranche brings total recent EU defense support for Ukraine to 3.3 billion euros ($3.6 billion), marking a significant expansion of European efforts to boost Kyiv's defense industry.
"Russia is ready for negotiations without any preconditions," Putin claimed in an address marking the end of the three-day Victory Day ceasefire. He invited Ukraine to begin talks in Istanbul on May 15.
Australian Labor Prime Minister Anthony Albanese speaks to media on April 12, 2025 in Perth, Australia (Matt Jelonek/Getty Images)
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has dismissed as "propaganda" an op-ed by Russia’s ambassador to Indonesia, Sergei Tolchenov, amid concerns of Moscow increasing its military presence in the region.
In the op-ed published in The Jakarta Post on April 19, Tolchenov claimed that Australia lacks the geopolitical weight to counter Russian military manoeuvres in the Indo-Pacific.
Tolchenov's remarks appeared to reference unconfirmed reports of a potential Russian military base on Indonesia’s Biak Island, an area located strategically close to northern Australia around 1,360 kilometers away.
Despite Australian Defence Minister Richard Marles asserting there is "no prospect" of Russian aircraft being based in Indonesia, both Marles and Albanese have avoided confirming or denying whether Russia ever made such a request.
Indonesian officials have also not publicly denied that a request may have been submitted.
"It is hard to imagine that any ordinary Australians should be concerned about what is happening 1,300 kilometers from their territory, about matters that concern relations between other sovereign states and have nothing to do with Australia," Tolchenov said.
"Perhaps it would be better for them to pay attention to the United States’ Typhon medium-range missile system in the Philippines, which will definitely reach the territory of the continent?" he added.
Tolchenov said that Australia is trying to play the "Russian card" and show who is more "Russophobic," against the backdrop of upcoming Australian elections.
"I would like to remind them of the words of U.S. President Donald Trump, which he pronounced in the White House on Feb. 28, 2025, to the Ukrainian citizen 'Z' — 'You have no cards.'"
When again asked about reports of Russia's alleged request for a base in Indonesia at a press conference on April 21, Albanese criticized the opposition for amplifying Russian disinformation and said there is no credible prospect of such a base, thus there was no need for official briefings on the matter.
"I’m anti-Russia," he said, adding: "I’m not sure that everyone is on that page, but I think that Russia has very different values under an authoritarian leader."
"I have no wish to help promote Russia’s propaganda messages, and I would suggest that that is not in Australia’s national interest either," he added.
Australia has been one of Ukraine's staunchest supporters in its fight against Russia's full-scale invasion.
Australia is considering joining the European-led coalition of the willing to support a lasting ceasefire in Ukraine, a statement issued by U.K. Prime Minister Keir Stamer's office read on March 8.
Starmer announced on March 2 that a number of European nations, including the U.K. and France, are developing a 'coalition of the willing' that will include "planes in the air and boots on the ground" in an effort to secure a successful ceasefire in Ukraine.
Asami Terajima
