"I am waiting to see who will come from Russia, and then I will decide which steps Ukraine should take. So far, the signals from them in the media are unconvincing," President Volodymyr Zelensky said.
The air raid was announced at around 2:30 p.m. local time, while the explosion sounded around 2:50 p.m. The number of victims killed rose to three, Sumy Oblast Governor Oleh Hryhorov reported at 8:42 p.m.
If confirmed, the decision would mark the first time since Russia's full-scale invasion that President Volodymyr Zelensky is absent, either physically or virtually, from a NATO summit.
The disclosure follows a warning from Digital Affairs Minister Krzysztof Gawkowski, who on May 6 said Moscow was carrying out an "unprecedented" interference campaign.
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.
Earlier reporting from the Washington Post cited a former Russian official who claimed Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Putin’s foreign policy aide, Yuri Ushakov, would represent Moscow in the talks.
The Council of Europe on May 14 approved the creation of a special tribunal to prosecute Russia's top leadership for the crime of aggression against Ukraine, Ukrainian lawmaker Maria Mezentseva reported.
Viktoria Roshchyna, 27, disappeared in August 2023 while reporting from Ukraine's Russian-occupied territories. Moscow admitted she was in Russian detention the following year.
Dutch Justice Minister David van Weel speaks about the future of the EU-led special tribunal for the crime of aggression against Ukraine and its role in bringing Russia to justice.
Turkish officials told Bloomberg that while they don't expect Trump to visit Istanbul, they are not ruling it out, and preparations for any scenario are underway.
Roadside shops targeted at Russian customers in the border city of Hunchun, China, on Oct. 18, 2016. Photo for illustrative purposes. (Zhang Peng/LightRocket via Getty Images)
Chinese banks are rejecting and returning about 80% of Russian payments made in Chinese yuan, the Russian state-controlled media outlet Kommersant reported on July 29, citing sources.
The U.S. and other countries unveiled a new wave of sanctions in June that targeted Russian financial institutions, as well as entities and individuals based in China and elsewhere that help Moscow circumvent the existing restrictions.
Trade between Russia and China has surged by 121% since 2021, underscoring the Chinese role as Moscow's economic lifeline. A functioning payment system is necessary for maintaining trade relations, and Russia was cut off from the international SWIFT system in 2022.
According to sources cited by Kommersant, Chinese banks routinely let Russian yuan payments delay for several weeks before ultimately rejecting them, often without providing a reason.
Russian businesses and individuals attempting to make the payments then lose money on commission and conversion fees and are unable to complete the transaction.
Russian companies doing business in China have increasingly had to rely on intermediary services that help facilitate the transfer of money and goods, which can add anywhere from 3-10% of commission-related expenses.
A source told Kommersant that such intermediary businesses account for up to 30% of payments to China.
The news is the latest in a series of reported setbacks impacting trade between Russia and China, which has seen the growing impact of Western sanctions.
Kommersant reported in June that the Russian subsidiary of the Chinese state-run Bank of China has stopped accepting payments from Russian banks.
"This is not very good news for the Russian market," a source told Kommersant.
"There will be additional costs, both in terms of time and cost of payment processing."
The Russian subsidiary of Bank of China is ranked second in terms of assets of Chinese banks operating in the Russian market, at 592.4 billion rubles ($6.8 billion) at the end of the first quarter of 2024.
The problems associated with the suspension of payments will likely "go beyond the banking sector, resulting in the state having less and less control over it, creating rising risks of fraud," a source told Kommersant.
Kateryna Hodunova
