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.
Melkonyants was arrested in August 2023 in connection with the activities of the European Network of Election Monitoring Organizations (ENEMO), which was co-founded by Golos's legal predecessor, the Golos association.
Ukraine's underground storage facilities are currently using 19.4% of their capacity. Almost 32%, or 2.79 bcm, less gas is available in the storages than in the previous year, according to the estimates.
The majority of Ukrainians, 71%, do not support holding elections before a full peace deal, even in the case of a ceasefire and security guarantees, according to a poll published by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS) on May 14.
"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.
Kaja Kallas, EU's top diplomat, speaks wi the media at the special European Council meeting in Brussels, Belgium, on March 6, 2025. (Olena Zashko/The Kyiv Independent)
European countries have already committed more than 50% of the 5-billion-euro ($5.5 billion) package for 2 million ammunition rounds requested by Ukraine, top EU diplomat Kaja Kallas said on April 3 in comments reported by Reuters.
Kallas's statement comes after EU leaders decided at a summit in Brussels on March 20 to help cover Ukraine's ammunition needs through aid packages announced by individual countries over the past month.
Addressing the summit online, President Volodymyr Zelensky asked for "European support of at least 5 billion euros as soon as possible" for the purchase of 2 million ammunition rounds.
"These things are moving very well," Kallas said ahead of the EU defense ministers' summit in Warsaw. "We need to get the help to Ukraine as fast as possible. President Zelensky has said that they need 5 billion (euros) to have at least two million rounds."
"I'm glad to see that we already have different proposals or different countries are coming with their input to this, so we have already over 50% of what is needed," she added.
Kallas initially proposed a 40-billion-euro ($43 billion) defense initiative for Ukraine, but European leaders have yet to reach an agreement. The sum of 5 billion euros for purchasing 2 million large-caliber ammunition rounds is seen as a first step that could be achieved before a possible consensus on the more significant tranche.
EU officials have been discussing ways to move the bigger package forward, including basing contributions on consent to avoid a likely veto by Hungary, the bloc's most Russian-friendly country.
Kateryna Hodunova is a News Editor at the Kyiv Independent. She previously worked as a sports journalist in several Ukrainian outlets and was the deputy chief editor at Suspilne Sport. Kateryna covered the 2022 Olympics in Beijing and was included in the Special Mentions list at the AIPS Sport Media Awards. She holds a bachelor's degree in political journalism from Taras Shevchenko University and a master's degree in political science from the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy.
Dominic Culverwell
