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.
Russia seems to be preparing a significant offensive in Ukraine as it is moving troops toward key positions on the front, the Financial Times reported on May 13, citing undisclosed Ukrainian intelligence officials.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said he will meet with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara, but said both leaders are ready to fly to Istanbul if Russian President Vladimir Putin chooses to attend the talks there.
Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Ukraine Olha Stefanishyna attends the Acting for Survivors event on June 15, 2023. (Eugen Kotenko / Ukrinform/Future Publishing via Getty Images)
Ukraine was counting on a more positive interim assessment of the country's progress in fulfilling the EU's candidate criteria, according to Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration Olha Stefanishyna.
The European Commission announced on June 22 that Ukraine has fully completed two out of seven steps needed to launch EU accession talks. Stefanishyna predicts that Kyiv should be able to implement the remaining requirements by October.
"We must understand that the remaining five blocks of recommendations are not at the zero stage. A lot of work was done during the year. In fact, the decisions are already made. Some of them need to be adopted only technically," the official said on national television, as cited by the Ukrinform news outlet.
Ukraine officially applied for EU membership in late February 2022 and was granted candidate status in June last year. To start the membership negotiation process, Kyiv needs to implement seven reforms outlined by the European Commission.
The two steps declared to be fully completed are the judicial system reform with the creation of the High Council of Justice and the High Qualification Commission of Judges and bringing media legislation into full compliance with the EU directive.
According to the European Commission's assessment, Ukraine has achieved "good progress" in implementing the reform of the Constitutional Court and made "some progress" in the remaining four steps. Those are related to anti-corruption efforts, anti-money laundering measures, de-oligarchization, and protecting the rights of national minorities.
"Our ambitions were greater - we expected, in particular, that the block of measures related to anti-corruption would be evaluated more deeply," Stefanishyna said. "We also expected that before this evaluation, we would fully adopt the legislation on launching the Constitutional Court reform, but it was adopted only in the first reading."
"However, I believe that for the European Commission to recognize any block of obligations as fully completed less than a year after receiving candidate status is an unprecedented story, as most countries have been working on implementing such recommendations for years."
The European Commission is set to give an official written assessment of Ukraine's progress in fulfilling the EU's candidate criteria in October 2023.
Dinara Khalilova is a reporter at the Kyiv Independent, where she has previously worked as a news editor. In the early weeks of Russia’s full-scale invasion, she worked as a fixer and local producer for Sky News’ team in Ukraine. Dinara holds a BA in journalism from Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv and a Master’s degree in media and communication from the U.K.’s Bournemouth University.
Oleksiy Sorokin
