Turkish officials told Bloomberg that while they don't expect Trump to visit Istanbul, they are not ruling it out, and preparations for any scenario are underway.
Melkonyants was arrested in August 2023 in connection with the activities of the European Network of Election Monitoring Organizations (ENEMO), which was co-founded by Golos's legal predecessor, the Golos association.
Ukraine's underground storage facilities are currently using 19.4% of their capacity. Almost 32%, or 2.79 bcm, less gas is available in the storages than in the previous year, according to the estimates.
The majority of Ukrainians, 71%, do not support holding elections before a full peace deal, even in the case of a ceasefire and security guarantees, according to a poll published by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS) on May 14.
"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.
U.S. President Joe Biden has invited his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky to Washington because he “really believes” that the war in Ukraine has reached “a new phase,” a top U.S. official told CNN on Dec. 21.
"The President really believes that as we approach winter, as we enter... a new phase in this war, Mr. Putin's aggression, that this is a good time for the two leaders to sit down face-to-face and talk,” John Kirby, the strategic communications coordinator for the National Security Council, said on live television.
While the first in-person Biden-Zelensky talks since 2021 are expected to focus on further U.S. military and economic support, as well as Russia sanctions, Kirby said that the two would also discuss how the war could come to an end.
Kirby did not elaborate further but acknowledged that Russian President Vladimir Putin is “obviously not interested in diplomacy right now.”
Biden-Zelensky talks are set to begin at 9:30 p.m. Kyiv time, and their news conference is scheduled 2.5 hours later.
We are the news team of the Kyiv Independent. We are here to make sure our readers get quick, essential updates about the events in Ukraine. Feel free to contact us via email with feedback and news alerts.
