"I am waiting to see who will come from Russia, and then I will decide which steps Ukraine should take. So far, the signals from them in the media are unconvincing," President Volodymyr Zelensky said.
The air raid was announced at around 2:30 p.m. local time, while the explosion sounded around 2:50 p.m. The number of victims killed rose to three, Sumy Oblast Governor Oleh Hryhorov reported at 8:42 p.m.
If confirmed, the decision would mark the first time since Russia's full-scale invasion that President Volodymyr Zelensky is absent, either physically or virtually, from a NATO summit.
The disclosure follows a warning from Digital Affairs Minister Krzysztof Gawkowski, who on May 6 said Moscow was carrying out an "unprecedented" interference campaign.
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.
Earlier reporting from the Washington Post cited a former Russian official who claimed Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Putin’s foreign policy aide, Yuri Ushakov, would represent Moscow in the talks.
The Council of Europe on May 14 approved the creation of a special tribunal to prosecute Russia's top leadership for the crime of aggression against Ukraine, Ukrainian lawmaker Maria Mezentseva reported.
Viktoria Roshchyna, 27, disappeared in August 2023 while reporting from Ukraine's Russian-occupied territories. Moscow admitted she was in Russian detention the following year.
Hungary's Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto attends the 10th Summit of the Heads of State of the Organization of Turkic States on Nov. 3, 2023. (Arda Kucukkaya/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Hungary threatened to veto Bulgaria's entry into the EU's passport-free Schengen Zone if Sofia does not scrap its transit tax on Russian gas, Reuters reported on Dec. 16, citing Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto.
Budapest is known for its amicable stances toward Moscow, and the majority of Hungarian gas supplies come from Russia.
Bulgaria imposed a transit tax on Russian gas in October, threatening to increase the prices of Hungarian imports flowing via the Turkish Stream pipeline.
"We have made it clear to the Bulgarians that if they keep this in place for long, if they jeopardize the safety of Hungary's energy supply for long, then we will veto their Schengen entry," Szijjarto said.
Hungary's top diplomat promised that the veto would be lifted as soon as the tax is removed.
In a bid to enter the much-desired Schengen Zone, the Bulgarian ruling coalition decided to suspend the tax earlier this week following discussions with the European Commission, at least until the EU presents a better solution.
"This tax shouldn't be unilateral from Bulgaria's side, but we should work with the European Commission. Such a tax can only be imposed with all European countries, in a way that would actually have an effect on the economy and on the Russian Federation," said Kiril Petkov, a former Bulgarian prime minister and a leader of the ruling PP party.
Boyko Borisov, another ex-prime minister and the leader of the PP's coalition partner GERB, commented that "since we are quite close to Schengen, any possibility of this fee hindering us should be removed."
Both Serbia and Hungary complained about the risk of higher gas prices when the measure was originally presented in October. Sofia retorted that the costs should be covered by Russia's state-owned gas supplier Gazprom.
Euractiv reported that despite Bulgaria's initial expectations to raise $1.3 billion per year, no money has been collected so far.
Budapest has repeatedly obstructed sanctions against Russia or blocked aid for Ukraine within the EU to leverage economic concessions.
During the recent European Council summit, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban blocked the $55 billion for Kyiv, but his abstention allowed an agreement on membership talks with Ukraine shortly after the European Commission released $11 billion in EU funds earmarked for Hungary.
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.
Krijn Schramade
