The measures target almost 200 ships of Russia's "shadow fleet," 30 companies involved in sanctions evasion, 75 sanctions on entities and individuals linked to the Russian military-industrial complex, and more.
The EU plans to significantly increase tariffs on Ukrainian goods after the current duty-free deal lapses on June 6, the Financial Times reported on May 14, citing undisclosed diplomatic sources.
The blockade ended at 10:30 p.m. local time. Truck traffic in both directions is now moving as usual, according to Ukraine's State Border Guard's statement.
Russia seems to be preparing a significant offensive in Ukraine as it is moving troops toward key positions on the front, the Financial Times reported on May 13, citing undisclosed Ukrainian intelligence officials.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said he will meet with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara, but said both leaders are ready to fly to Istanbul if Russian President Vladimir Putin chooses to attend the talks there.
Andriy Yermak, Zelensky's chief of staff, said that the new pontiff had a phone call with Zelensky on Monday, during which the pope expressed willingness to facilitate meetings between global leaders and vowed to support efforts for "a just and lasting peace."
In an interview with French broadcaster TF1 on May 13, Macron discussed new Russia sanctions and stationing French nuclear weapons in other European countries as a deterrent against Russia.
Performing their song "Bird of Pray," Ukrainian band Ziferblat passed the Eurovision semi-finals on May 13, qualifying Ukraine for the grand final on May 17.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov confirmed that a Russian delegation will be in Istanbul on May 15 for direct peace talks with Ukraine. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Putin’s foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov will likely represent Russia.
The move follows Ukraine's ratification of the minerals agreement, deepening U.S.-Ukraine economic ties and signaling expanded U.S. involvement in Ukraine's long-term recovery.
Protestors outside the Georgian parliament in Tbilisi on April 16, 2024. (Vano Shlamov/AFP via Getty Images)
The Georgian parliament postponed the vote on the first reading of the controversial foreign agents bill to April 17 amid mass protests, local media reported on April 16.
According to officials, the April 16 parliamentary session was supposed to end at 9 p.m. local time. Since the debates on the bill had not finished, the vote had to be pushed to the following day.
The bill, first introduced in 2023 by the ruling Georgian Dream party, would require organizations that receive foreign funding to be labeled as such. Widespread demonstrations broke out in protest of the proposed law, and it was eventually abandoned in March 2023.
The bill became popularly known in Georgia as the "Russian law" for its resemblance to similar legislation passed in Russia. Moscow's "foreign agents" registry has been widely used to target and silence groups and individuals who are critical of the government, including independent journalists, activists, and NGOs.
The Georgian Dream party recently reintroduced the legislation in parliament, renaming it a bill on the "transparency of foreign influence."
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The decision sparked mass protests in the country's capital of Tbilisi, with thousands of protestors chanting "No to Russian law" outside the parliament building.
Even within the parliamentary session, debate over the bill has remained tense. Mamuka Mdinaradze, the leader of Georgian Dream's parliament faction and a key force behind the bill, was punched in the face by opposition MP Aleko Elisashvili while speaking from the dispatch box during an early discussion of the revived bill.
Georgian police reportedly began using tear gas to break up the demonstrations outside parliament during the late hours of April 16, reportedly leading to several injuries and arrests. The official number of those detained is not yet confirmed.
Pawel Herczynski, the EU's ambassador to Georgia, said earlier this week that the foreign agents bill is "incompatible" with European values.
The European Commission offered Georgia candidate status to the EU in November 2023. It is widely believed that the foreign agents law will hurt Georgia's chances of entering the bloc, if passed.
Rachel Amran is a news editor at the Kyiv Independent. She previously worked on the Europe and Central Asia team of Human Rights Watch investigating war crimes in Ukraine. Rachel holds a master's degree in Russian, Eastern European, and Eurasian Regional Studies from Columbia University.
Nate Ostiller
