Ukraine remains the most mined country in the world. Nearly one-third of Ukraine's territory, approximately 174,000 square kilometers, had been mined since Russia began its full-scale invasion of the country in February 2022.
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.
Russian President Vladimir Putin chairs a Security Council meeting virtually at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, on March 31, 2023. (Photo by Aleksey Babushkin/Sputnik/AFP via Getty Images)
The Mexican government on Aug. 8 said it would not accommodate Kyiv's request to arrest Russian President Vladimir Putin if he arrives for the inauguration of Mexico's new head of state.
"We can't do that," Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador told journalists, adding that "it's not up to us."
The Kremlin's chief was invited to attend the inauguration of President-elect Claudia Sheinbaum on Oct. 1. In response, the Ukrainian Embassy called on Mexico to comply with an international arrest warrant on Putin and detain him.
While Russia is not a member of the ICC, Mexico is.
Juan Ramon de la Fuente, selected to be Sheinbaum's foreign minister, explained that it is "standard protocol" to invite the leaders of all countries with which Mexico has diplomatic relations to the inauguration.
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky received an invitation as well.
Putin congratulated Sheinbaum on her victory in June, referring to Mexico as Russia's "historically friendly partner" in Latin America.
Sheinbaum, poised to become Mexico's first female president, won a historic victory in the general election on June 2 and will commence her six-year term in October.
Anastasiia Lapatina
