The agreement, signed on April 30, establishes a joint investment fund between Kyiv and Washington and grants the U.S. special access to projects developing Ukraine's natural resources.
Ukraine is considering moving away from the U.S. dollar and closer to the euro as a benchmark for the hryvnia, National Bank Governor Andrii Pyshnyi told Reuters.
The Atesh partisan group claims it disabled communication at several Russian military facilities when it allegedly destroyed equipment at a transformer substation in the village of Mogiltsy in Russia's Moscow Oblast.
"The Russians are asking for a certain set of requirements, a certain set of concessions in order to end the conflict. We think they’re asking for too much," U.S. Vice President JD Vance said on May 7, according to Politico.
EU ambassadors began talks this week on a 17th sanctions package that targets Russia’s military-industrial complex, Moscow’s shadow shipping fleet, and related support networks.
A general view of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) meeting on Jan. 23, 2024 in New York, United States. (Arda Kucukkaya/Anadolu via Getty Images)
The U.S. expects Russia to support a resolution at the U.N. Security Council warning countries against placing nuclear weapons in orbit, U.S. National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said on April 4, according to Bloomberg.
Kirby's statement came weeks after claims that Moscow could deploy a nuclear anti-satellite weapon or a mock warhead into space this year. U.S. President Joe Biden later said that Russia was indeed developing an anti-satellite space weapon, but it did not endanger people on Earth, adding that there has not yet been a decision to launch the weapon into space.
The U.S. and Japanese resolution says that countries "should not develop nuclear weapons or any other weapons of mass destruction intended to be placed in orbit."
It is expected to be brought to a vote next week, and Washington "looks forward" to Moscow backing the resolution, Kirby said.
"We have heard President (Vladimir) Putin say that Russia has no intention of deploying nuclear weapons in space. There should be no reason why not (voting), and if they do, then I think that should open up some really legitimate questions to Mr. Putin about what his intentions really are," Kirby said.
The U.S. and its allies were trying to dissuade Russia from deploying the capability through China and India, which were deemed to have more influence on the Kremlin, Bloomberg's unnamed sources said earlier.
Moscow has repeatedly resorted to nuclear saber-rattling throughout the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Dmitry Medvedev, the deputy chairman of Russia's Security Council, threatened on Feb. 18 to use nuclear weapons against the U.S., the U.K., Germany, and Ukraine if Moscow loses all occupied Ukrainian territories.
Critics say such statements are bluff rather than Russia's genuine plans and are intended to scare the West into making concessions.
The Kremlin refuted the warning, saying it was a "malicious fabrication."
Dinara Khalilova
