"He'd like me to be there, and that's a possibility. ... I don't know that he would be there if I'm not there. We're going to find out," U.S. President Donald Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One while traveling to Qatar, Reuters reported.
Trump has long demanded that NATO allies increase their military spending, previously calling for the alliance to raise its benchmark from 2% to 5% of GDP.
More than 1,000 Russian government entities and 1,200 private companies are involved in the economy of occupied Mariupol, a major southeastern city occupied by Russia after it invaded Ukraine in 2022, according to a research paper published on May 14.
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 government has approved "reform roadmaps in the rule of law, public administration, and democratic institutions, as well as Ukraine’s negotiation position," Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said.
The statement did not name the ex-official by name, but details of the case indicate it relates to Oleh Hladkovsky, a former deputy secretary of Ukraine's top security body who has been wanted since mid-April.
Brazilian President Lula da Silva claimed that Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha had appealed to his Brazilian counterpart, Mauro Vieira, to ask Putin if he was willing to conclude a peace agreement.
"Trump needs to believe that Putin actually lies," Zelensky told journalists in Kyiv. "And we should do our part. Sensibly approach this issue, to show that it’s not us that is slowing down the process."
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.
A residential building destroyed by artillery shelling on Dec. 26, 2022, in Bakhmut, Ukraine. (Photo by Pierre Crom/Getty Images)
Donetsk Oblast Governor Pavlo Kyrylenko said on Dec. 26 that over 60% of the infrastructure in the city of Bakhmut, which has been the site of intense fighting, is partially or fully destroyed.
“Russia is constantly shelling Bakhmut’s infrastructure. The enemy is keeping on scorched earth tactics,” he said.
On the same day, Eastern Military Command spokesman Serhiy Cherevaty said that the Bakhmut and Avdiivka areas in Donetsk Oblast remain the sites of the heaviest hostilities at the current stage of the war. He reported that there were 28 episodes of fighting and 225 shellings from artillery and tanks in the Bakhmut area on Dec. 26 alone.
On Dec. 25, the Institute for the Study of War said that Russia's advances near Bakhmut have likely slowed down in recent days, although it is too early to tell if Russia's efforts to take the city are reaching their end.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Dec. 20 that Bakhmut in Donetsk Oblast remains the "hottest point" out of the entire 1,300-kilometer front line.
Bakhmut, a city with a pre-war population of around 70,000, is one of Russia's main targets, as seizing it could allow Russian forces to launch attacks on urban areas such as Kramatorsk and Sloviansk in Donetsk Oblast.
The Wagner Group, which has been conducting a large portion of Russian operations around Bakhmut, uses many poorly-trained convicts it recruited to fight against Ukraine in an attempt to take the city, the U.K. Defense Ministry previously reported.
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