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.
Hungary's parliament building in a photo on Dec. 13, 2021. (Ludovic Marin/AFP via Getty Images)
Hungarian parliament acting speaker Sandor Lezsak has signed off on Sweden's accession to NATO after Hungary's legislature ratified it earlier this week, Reuters reported on March 2, citing the parliament's voting records.
The legislation will now go to the desk of Hungary's acting president, Laszlo Kover, for promulgation.
The Hungarian parliament voted to ratify Stockholm's entry into the alliance on Feb. 26, ending months of delay.
Sweden and Finland applied to join the alliance in 2022 after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, but their accession was held up by objections from Turkey and Hungary.
Finland joined NATO in April 2023. After Turkey formally ratified Sweden's NATO membership on Jan. 25, Hungary remained the last member yet to approve Sweden's application.
At the Feb. 23 meeting, the two leaders vowed to overcome their differences and increase cooperation. They also signed a deal in which Sweden agreed to sell four SwedishJAS Gripen fighter jets to Hungary.
Hungary previously delayed ratifying Sweden's NATO accession in part due to the country's criticism of the deteriorating rule of law under Orban's tenure.
Sweden is set to become the 32nd member of NATO. Accepting a new country into the alliance requires unanimous support from all members.
Kateryna Hodunova
