"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.
Serhiy Petrovytch Doumenko, Metropolitan Epifaniy of Kyiv, Head of Ukraine church, leads an Orthodox Christmas service at Kyiv Pechersk Lavra monastery in Kyiv on Jan. 7, 2023. (Photo by Sergei Supinsky/AFP via Getty Images)
The abbot of the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra, Metropolitan Pavlo, said on March 29 that he and other members of the Russian-controlled Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP) have the right to stay and do not plan to leave the Lavra until the end of the ongoing legal proceedings concerning the monastery, reported Ukrainska Pravda.
On March 10, the Culture Ministry issued a statement saying monks from the UOC-MP must leave the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra, Ukraine’s most important Orthodox monastery, by March 29.
“On Tuesday, a letter arrived stating that on the 30th, the ‘transfer’ of the Lavra to the state will begin,” said Metropolitan Pavlo.
“The law is on our side. We will stay in the Lavra until the trial is over. We have a long-term contract that cannot be terminated during wartime.”
Pavlo added that he was offered a compromise where the Moscow-controlled church leader Metropolitan Onufrii, the seminary, and himself leave the Lavra, responding that “one does not come down from the cross, one is taken down from it.”
Meanwhile, when asked by journalists from Ukrainian Media outlet Radio Svoboda why the members of the Moscow Patriarchate were taking things out of the Lavra, Pavlo replied “because it’s ours.”
On March 29, the Commercial Court of Kyiv received a lawsuit initiated by the UOC-MP monastery in the Kyiv-Pechersk Larva, demanding the contract termination with the UOC-MP be declared invalid.
The Russian-controlled church’s lease on a part of the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra – called the Upper Lavra – expired on Jan. 1, and the Ukrainian government decided not to extend the lease.
Later, Ukrainian authorities said they would also terminate the Russian-affiliated church’s indefinite lease on the remaining part, the Lower Lavra, from March 29, accusing it of violating the terms of the lease.
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The Kyiv Independent news desk
