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.
A European Union (EU) flag next to the European Commission building in Brussels, Belgium, on Nov. 10, 2023. Photo for illustrative purposes. (Simon Wohlfahrt/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
The European Council has approved a law on the prosecution of violation or circumvention of EU sanctions, mainly concerning the sanctions against Russia, the body's press service reported on April 12.
The correspondingdirective, which defines the circumvention of sanctionsand ensured that it would be treated as an offense punishable by a prison sentence of up to five years in all member states, was adopted by the European Parliamentlast month.
The Council listed helping to bypass a travel ban, trading in sanctioned goods, and performing prohibited financial activities among the actions that could be considered as criminal offences. Inciting, aiding, and abetting also can be penalized.
Those who violate EUrestrictive measures can be fined further, the newly adopted law said. Legal entities such as private companies, could also be held liable if the offense was committed by a person with a leading position.
"In such cases, sanctions may include the disqualification of business activities and the withdrawal of permits and authorizations to pursue economic activities," the statementread.
The directive will enter the force on the 20th day following publication in the EU's Official Journal. The member states will have 12 months to implement the law into national legislation.
While the sanctions are imposed on the bloc-wide level, definitions of sanction violations and penalties vary across member states. This has led to a process known as "forum shopping," a situation when violators seek out the member states with the weakest enforcement.
"The Russian invasion benefits from crooks breaking the law in Europe. They must be caught, and forum-shopping must stop," European Parliament member (MEP) Sophie in 't Veld said.
Martin Fornusek
