The phone call comes as Moscow once again rejected a 30-day ceasefire, with Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Maria Zakharova claiming that a ceasefire would give "Kyiv a break to restore its military potential and continue its confrontation with Russia."
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.
European Commission spokesperson Dana Spinant during a press briefing on June 9, 2023. (European Commission/Screenshot)
Russia bears "primary responsibility" for the Kakhovka dam destruction in Kherson Oblast as it had started the war in the first place, European Commission spokesperson Dana Spinant said on June 9.
"Russia is there, bombing and shelling, and Ukraine is defending itself, so Russia has primary responsibility for what is happening in Ukraine... and this is the first statement you have to keep in mind when looking into this incident and anything else," Spinant told a press conference.
The official said that the European Commission condemned Russia's continued attacks in any form and place on Ukrainian territory.
"We will do whatever we can to support the people impacted (by the Kakhovka dam breach)," Spinant added.
A day before, the White House made a similar statement, saying that while it was still assessing who destroyed the dam, Russia was ultimately to blame because it controlled the Kakhovka plant.
The dam of the Russian-occupied Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant on the Dnipro River was destroyed on June 6, sparking a humanitarian and environmental disaster across southern Ukraine. According to Ukraine's Southern Command, the dam was blown up by Russian forces.
On the same day, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced that the bloc would help Ukraine with the aftermath of the Kakhovka dam destruction, which caused large-scale flooding in Kherson and Mykolaiv oblasts.
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.
Daria Shulzhenko
