Zelenska attends a ceremony in Kyiv in Nov. 2023. (Kirill Chubotin / Ukrinform/Future Publishing via Getty Images)
First Lady Olena Zelenska told The Economist that she does not want President Volodymyr Zelensky to lead another term and that he needs to find something new in life.
"I don't want him to be president for another term or two terms,” she told journalists.
When asked about how she envisions her future, she said "our family will reunite. We will live together all the time. After that we’ll take a vacation.”
There has been heated debate over whether Ukraine needs to hold a national election in March next year as originally scheduled.
Zelensky said in November that it was "not the right time" for elections.
Lance Luo (Li P. Luo) is a news editor at the Kyiv Independent. Previously, he worked at Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and Hromadske Television in Kyiv. He also spent three years in finance and strategy consulting. Mr. Luo graduated from the University of Southern California and serves as an arbitrator at FINRA.
"Constructive dialogue between Russia and the U.S. will always achieve more than the tired, destructive language of pressure," Kirill Dmitriev, head of Russia's sovereign wealth fund, wrote.
Ukraine's Air Force said Russian forces launched 136 drones overnight, including Iranian-designed Shahed-type attack drones, and fired four S-300/400 guided missiles.
Russian Shahed-type drones regularly breach Belarusian airspace as they fly towards Ukrainian cities during mass attacks which have escalated significantly over recent weeks.
Russian President Vladimir Putin told U.S. President Donald Trump that Moscow intended to continue offensive operations until it secured the full administrative borders of occupied Ukrainian regions.
The EU is close to reaching a full agreement on its 18th sanctions package against Moscow, which will include a new Russian oil price cap, Reuters reported on July 13, citing four sources within the bloc.
"We will send them Patriots, which they desperately need, because (Russian President Vladimir) Putin really surprised a lot of people. He talks nice and then bombs everybody in the evening," U.S. President Donald Trump said on July 13.
"Industry needs to ramp up its capacities. That applies to ammunition, to drones, to tanks — really to almost every area," German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said.
Western countries and Israel suspect Tehran of seeking to develop a nuclear weapon, a claim Iran denies, defending what it calls its "non-negotiable" right to develop a civilian nuclear program.
The Kyiv Independent news desk
