Moscow and Washington discuss the potential resumption of Russian gas supplies to Europe, among other issues related to the peaceful settlement of Russia's war in Ukraine, Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov confirmed to the Russian state-run Interfax news agency.
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Friday, May 9
"This is a historic decision, as weapons for Ukraine will be purchased at the expense of the proceeds from frozen Russian assets through the European Peace Fund," Denys Shmyhal said.
Kurt Volker said that now "there is more alignment" between Ukraine and the U.S. under the Trump Administration than at the beginning of 2025.
Peter Szijjarto's announcement came after Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) allegedly dismantled a Hungarian military intelligence network operating in Zakarpattia Oblast.
The approval marks a key step in international efforts to hold Moscow accountable for what is considered the gravest violation of international law committed against Ukraine.
Although Moscow declared on April 28 that it would halt all military actions from May 8 to midnight on May 11 to mark Victory Day, strikes on civilian areas have continued.
Under Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin's rule, millions of Ukrainians died during the Holodomor, a man-made famine in 1932–1933. The dictator also oversaw mass deportations, purges of Ukrainian intellectuals and leaders, and the suppression of the Ukrainian language and culture.
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According to the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), this marks the first time Ukrainian authorities have exposed a Hungarian military intelligence network conducting activities harmful to Ukraine.
Delegations from 35 countries and the Council of Europe gathered in Lviv as EU officials prepare to approve both new defense aid and steps toward establishing a tribunal for Russian leadership.
The ruling marks a significant victory for RFE/RL amid growing concerns about U.S. funding cuts to independent media countering Russian disinformation.
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U.S. Cardinal Robert Prevost was elected the new pope and leader of the Roman Catholic Church on Thursday, taking the name Pope Leo XIV, a senior cardinal announced on May 8 to crowds gathered in St. Peter’s Square, according to Vatican News.
(Updated: )Victory Day
George Simion, leader of Romania's far-right AUR party, who won the first round of the presidential election with nearly 40% of the vote, reiterated that if elected, he would oppose any further assistance to Ukraine and shift Romania’s focus inward.
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Reuters: US believes Putin ally Prigozhin wants control of salt, gypsum mines in Bakhmut
• 2 min read
The United States believes that Russian dictator Vladimir Putin's close ally Yevgeny Prigozhin, who is the head of Kremlin-backed mercenary Wagner Group, has invested his troops in the fight for Bakhmut because of an interest in the salt and gypsum from mines near the city, Reuters reported, citing a White House official.
The unnamed official told Reuters that the White House has reason to believe that monetary motives are driving Russia's and Prigozhin's "obsession" with Bakhmut, Reuters wrote. Bakhmut is located in Ukraine's eastern, resource-rich Donetsk Oblast.
The U.S. has previously accused Russian mercenaries of exploiting natural resources in the Central African Republic, Mali, Sudan, and elsewhere to fund its military aggression against Ukraine.
Prigozhin's Wagner Group has also been accused of human rights abuses, including torture and extrajudicial killings, in Ukraine, Syria, Libya, the Central African Republic, Sudan, and Mozambique.
Wagner's casualties in Ukraine are over 4,000 killed and 10,000 wounded, including 1,000 killed at the end of 2022 near Bakhmut, the White House official told Reuters.
Russia deployed Wagner Group mercenaries, who operate worldwide, to eastern Ukraine amid its military’s heavy losses, the U.K. Defense Ministry reported on March 28.
Bakhmut is the scene of some of the most intense hostilities in the war as Russia seeks to capture the city and the entirety of Donetsk Oblast, which, together with Luhansk Oblast, makes up Ukraine's eastern Donbas region. Bakhmut is Ukraine's key fortress in Donbas and a local transportation hub.
The battle for the city has gone into its fifth month, with Russia suffering major losses with little to show for it, save slow advances that eventually got them to the city's outskirts.
As Battle of Bakhmut nears culmination, Ukraine’s artillery gasps for more ammo
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