Russia wants to end the war in Ukraine "as soon as possible," preferably through peaceful means, and is ready to continue negotiations — provided that Kyiv and its Western allies are willing to engage, Vladimir Putin said.
The U.S. Senate is postponing action on a bipartisan Russia sanctions bill until at least July, as other legislative and foreign policy priorities dominate the agenda, Semafor reported on June 18.
Russia’s hardline nationalist elite reportedly argues that only a formal war declaration would permit true escalation—full-scale mobilisation, regular missile strikes, and potentially the use of tactical nuclear weapons.
"My next mission: fighting for what's right here at home," Former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Bridget Brink wrote.
Mykhailo Hrytsai, a senior collaborator with the Russian occupation authorities, was shot dead in the city with a silenced PM pistol, according to a source.
"I said, Vladimir, let's mediate Russia first. You can worry about this later," U.S. President Donald Trump said.
"This is really great news," NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said.
As of the morning of June 18, 293 Ukrainians in Israel and 85 in Iran have requested evacuation, Ukraine's Foreign Ministry said.
Russia on June 18 warned the world is "millimetres away from catastrophe" due to Israeli strikes on Iran's nuclear infrastructure, just four months after one of its own drones struck the Chornobyl nuclear site in Ukraine. Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova accused Israel of escalating the risk of a
The Slovak police reportedly also seek to detain a former Defense Ministry official and have detained an ex-head of the Konstrukta Defense state company in a move denounced by Nad's opposition Democrats party as politically motivated.
"Russia uses these vessels to circumvent international sanctions and sustain its illegal and immoral war against Ukraine," Australia's Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
"This issue is certainly not on the NATO agenda and nobody has formulated an expectation that there will be an invitation in The Hague, nor have we heard that from the Ukrainians themselves," Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kestutis Budrys said in comments quoted by the LRT broadcaster.
According to the Guardian, some in Kyiv are unsure if President Volodymyr Zelensky's presence at the summit would be worthwhile without a confirmed meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump.
Ukraine's Foreign Ministry on June 18 brushed off Moscow's demands for Kyiv to destroy or dismantle Western-supplied weapons as a condition for a ceasefire, saying it shows disregard for U.S. peace efforts.
The legislation passed with the support of 253 lawmakers "after months of obstructions... unblocking 600 million euros ($690 million) in EU funds," lawmaker Yaroslav Zhelezniak said.
Kravchenko, a former military prosecutor and most recently head of Ukraine's tax service, replaces Andrii Kostin, who stepped down in October 2024 following a scandal involving fraudulent disability claims by dozens of prosecutors in Khmelnytskyi Oblast.
According to public broadcaster Suspilne, a crowd gathered to assert control over the church, which had recently voted to switch allegiance from the UOC-MP to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU) — an autocephalous (autonomous) Ukrainian church not affiliated with Moscow.
Ukraine's parliament on June 18 supported a bill allowing Ukrainian citizens to hold passports of foreign countries, lawmaker Yaroslav Zhelezniak said.
"We extend deepest condolences to the victims' families. This senseless attack runs counter to President Trump's call to stop the killing and end the war," the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine said in a statement.
Russian forces launched 58 Shahed-type attack drones and decoys against Ukraine overnight, targeting mainly the Donetsk, Dnipropetrovsk, and Zaporizhzhia oblasts, the Air Force said. Ukrainian defenses shot down 12 drones, while 18 disappeared from radars or were intercepted by electronic warfare systems, according to the statement.
EU High Representative Kaja Kallas urged the European Union to press forward with lowering the oil price cap on Russian crude, even without U.S. support, warning that Middle East tensions could otherwise drive prices up and boost Russia's revenues.
The number includes 1,040 casualties that Russian forces suffered just over the past day.
U.S. Special Envoy for Ukraine Keith Kellogg will meet Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko in the coming days, Reuters reported on June 17, citing four sources familiar with the matter.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said on June 17 that the G7 summit had produced concrete results for Ukraine, including increased military support, new tranches of aid using frozen Russian assets, and additional sanctions targeting the sources of Russia’s war effort.
The European Union and its allies are ready to toughen sanctions on Russia, French President Emmanuel Macron said on the sidelines of the Group of Seven (G7) summit on June 17.
President Volodymyr Zelensky is cutting his visit to Canada short and will return to Kyiv on June 17, while G7 talks are still ongoing, a source told a Kyiv Independent journalist on the ground.
The debate over sanctions comes as intensified Russian strikes on Ukraine killed at least 14 people and injured 117 in Kyiv overnight on June 17.
On June 14, Ryan O'Leary, an American volunteer, said that mismanagement within the military, rather than Russia's actions, was responsible for "more deaths," accusing commanders of prioritizing personal power over troop welfare.
"To be absolutely clear, this support will be unwavering until we get a just peace for Ukraine and the Ukrainian people," Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said on June 17.
Trump said that "we know exactly where the so-called 'Supreme Leader' is hiding." "He is an easy target, but is safe there - We are not going to take him out (kill!), at least not for now," he continued.
The attacks left several people hospitalized with blast trauma and shrapnel wounds.
Zelensky was expected to meet U.S. President Donald Trump at the summit. However, it is not clear if the meeting will take place because Trump left the summit early due to escalating tensions in the Middle East.
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