Washington and its partners are considering additional sanctions if the parties do not observe a ceasefire, with political and technical negotiations between Europe and the U.S. intensifying since last week, Reuters' source said.
The Kyiv Independent’s contributor Ignatius Ivlev-Yorke spent a day with a mobile team from the State Emergency Service in Nikopol in the south of Ukraine as they responded to relentless drone, artillery, and mortar strikes from Russian forces just across the Dnipro River. Nikopol is located across from the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in the city of Enerhodar.
Peter Szijjarto's announcement came after Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) allegedly dismantled a Hungarian military intelligence network operating in Zakarpattia Oblast.
Moscow and Washington discuss the potential resumption of Russian gas supplies to Europe, among other issues related to the peaceful settlement of Russia's war in Ukraine, Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov confirmed to the Russian state-run Interfax news agency.
"This is a historic decision, as weapons for Ukraine will be purchased at the expense of the proceeds from frozen Russian assets through the European Peace Fund," Denys Shmyhal said.
The approval marks a key step in international efforts to hold Moscow accountable for what is considered the gravest violation of international law committed against Ukraine.
F-16 fighters durning military parade in Warsaw on the day of the Polish army on Aug. 15, 2018, Warsaw, Poland. (Krystian Dobuszynski/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
The first batch of Ukrainian pilots graduated from the F-16 training program in Arizona, a spokesperson of the U.S. Air National Guard, Erin Hannigan, told Politico in a comment published on May 23.
Ukraine is bound to receive dozens of American-made fourth-generation fighter jets from the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, and Norway. Several countries, including the U.S., pledged to assist Ukrainian aviators with the necessary training under the fighter jet coalition framework.
Hannigan did not disclose the number of the first graduates or the exact date of graduation "out of an abundance of caution for their safety."
The aviators will now move to Europe for additional training, Politico wrote, citing an undisclosed source.
First Ukrainian pilots began their training at Morris Air National Guard Base in Tucson, Arizona, last October. The lessons are facilitated by the Air National Guard's 162nd Wing.
Other pilots are receiving training in Denmark, and Romania also opened an F-16 training facility for Ukrainian aviators.
Earlier this week, the Dutch Defense Ministry announced that the first 10 Ukrainian military personnel completed F-16 maintenance training in the Netherlands.
Martin Fornusek is a news editor at the Kyiv Independent. He has previously worked as a news content editor at the media company Newsmatics and is a contributor to Euromaidan Press. He was also volunteering as an editor and translator at the Czech-language version of Ukraïner. Martin studied at Masaryk University in Brno, Czechia, holding a bachelor's degree in security studies and history and a master's degree in conflict and democracy studies.
Dinara Khalilova
