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.
Finnish and Nato flags flutter at the courtyard of the Foreign Ministry in Helsinki, Finland on April 4, 2023. (Antti Hämäläinen / Lehtikuva / AFP via Getty Images)
Finland will deliver military aid amounting to 106 million euros ($116 million), the Finnish Defense Ministry announced on Dec. 21.
Details of the delivery were not made public "for operational reasons and in order to guarantee the safe delivery of the aid," but the package takes into account "both the needs of Ukraine and the resource situation" of Finland's Armed Forces, the Defense Ministry said.
"Finland is committed to supporting Ukraine in both the short and long term," Defense Minister Antti Hakkanen said.
Finland has so far delivered 1.6 billion euros ($1.76 billion) worth of military aid to Ukraine, according to the ministry.
Russia has made multiple thinly-veiled threats to Finland over the last week.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Dec. 17 that Finland is "now going to have problems" because it joined NATO.
Finland joined NATO in March 2023, after applying for membership in May 2022 following the start of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
In an interview with state-run television, Putin promised that Russia would create a "Leningrad military district" on the border with Finland and concentrate forces there.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said on Dec. 19 that the U.S.-Finland bilateral defense cooperation deal signed on Dec. 18 will not go "unanswered."
The deal strengthens mutual defense ties and gives the U.S. access to 15 Finnish military facilities, including four air bases and one naval base.
"Finland knows almost better than anyone what is at stake for Ukraine. In 1939, the Finns also faced a Russian invasion and proved that a free nation can put up an incredibly powerful and resilient resistance," U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said.
Elsa Court is the audience development manager at the Kyiv Independence. She previously worked as a news editor at the Kyiv Independent and was previously an intern at the Kyiv Post. She has a Master’s in Conflict Studies and Human Rights from Utrecht University. Elsa is originally from the UK.
Abbey Fenbert
