Moscow and Washington discuss the potential resumption of Russian gas supplies to Europe, among other issues related to the peaceful settlement of Russia's war in Ukraine, Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov confirmed to the Russian state-run Interfax news agency.
"This is a historic decision, as weapons for Ukraine will be purchased at the expense of the proceeds from frozen Russian assets through the European Peace Fund," Denys Shmyhal said.
Peter Szijjarto's announcement came after Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) allegedly dismantled a Hungarian military intelligence network operating in Zakarpattia Oblast.
The approval marks a key step in international efforts to hold Moscow accountable for what is considered the gravest violation of international law committed against Ukraine.
Although Moscow declared on April 28 that it would halt all military actions from May 8 to midnight on May 11 to mark Victory Day, strikes on civilian areas have continued.
Under Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin's rule, millions of Ukrainians died during the Holodomor, a man-made famine in 1932–1933. The dictator also oversaw mass deportations, purges of Ukrainian intellectuals and leaders, and the suppression of the Ukrainian language and culture.
According to the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), this marks the first time Ukrainian authorities have exposed a Hungarian military intelligence network conducting activities harmful to Ukraine.
Delegations from 35 countries and the Council of Europe gathered in Lviv as EU officials prepare to approve both new defense aid and steps toward establishing a tribunal for Russian leadership.
The ruling marks a significant victory for RFE/RL amid growing concerns about U.S. funding cuts to independent media countering Russian disinformation.
U.S. Cardinal Robert Prevost was elected the new pope and leader of the Roman Catholic Church on Thursday, taking the name Pope Leo XIV, a senior cardinal announced on May 8 to crowds gathered in St. Peter’s Square, according to Vatican News.
George Simion, leader of Romania's far-right AUR party, who won the first round of the presidential election with nearly 40% of the vote, reiterated that if elected, he would oppose any further assistance to Ukraine and shift Romania’s focus inward.
Ukrainian oligarch Ihor Kolomoisky attends the YES conference in Kyiv on Sep. 13, 2019. (yes-ukraine.org)
The U.S. Department of Justice filed a civil forfeiture complaint on Jan. 20, with the intention of seizing $6 million from Ukrainian oligarch Ihor Kolomoisky's businesses, allegedly obtained with money stolen and laundered from PrivatBank.
Federal prosecutors say Kolomoisky's businesses received the $6 million as proceeds from the sale of an office building in Dallas that was bought and improved with laundered money.
U.S. federal officials accused Kolomoisky and his associates of laundering hundreds of millions of dollars in stolen money through his web of companies in the U.S. that own commercial and industrial properties in numerous states.
A total of $5.5 billion was allegedly stolen through insider lending schemes from PrivatBank, Ukraine's biggest lender, when Kolomoisky and fellow oligarch Gennadiy Boholyubov used to own it. The bank was nationalized in 2016.
“The complaints allege that they laundered a portion of the criminal proceeds using an array of shell companies’ bank accounts, primarily at PrivatBank’s Cyprus branch, before they transferred the funds to the United States,” the Justice Department stated.
Kolomoisky has repeatedly denied wrongdoing. He has said that his U.S. properties were bought with money he made from legitimate business deals.
This is the fourth civil forfeiture action against Kolomoisky and his companies. The previous three complaints targeted the oligarch's commercial real estate in Dallas, Louisville and Cleveland.
In civil forfeiture, law enforcement officials seize assets believed to be associated with criminal activity. Kolomoisky and his associates have not been charged with a crime but the forfeiture complaints directly accuse the oligarch of fraud and money laundering. Kolomoisky remains under federal investigation and experts believe that criminal charges are a matter of time.
In March, Kolomoisky and his family were banned from the U.S., which accused the oligarch of "significant corruption" when he governed Dnipropetrovsk Oblast in 2014-2015.
Alexander Query is a reporter at the Kyiv Independent. He is the former business editor at the Kyiv Post. He worked as a TV correspondent and an anchorman at UATV in Ukraine, and received a BA in modern literature from La Sorbonne, in Paris.
