"Only member states can take out loans within the 150 billion euros instrument, but they can use these funds for joint procurement with Ukraine," EU Defense Commissioner Andrius Kubilius said.
"We agreed to pursue ambitious measures to reduce Russia's ability to wage war by limiting Kremlin revenues, disrupting the shadow fleet, tightening the Oil Price Cap, and reducing our remaining imports of Russian energy."
Zelensky on May 12 removed Lieutenant General Ivan Havryliuk from the Headquarters of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, the top command and control body for all branches of Ukraine's defense apparatus.
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.
Peter Pellegrini, Slovakia's former prime minister and leader of the social democratic Hlas party, a day after the Oct. 1 parliamentary elections, in Bratislava, Slovakia. (Photo credit: Zuzana Gogova/Getty Images)
Slovak President Peter Pellegrini, speaking to Slovakia's public broadcaster STVR on Dec. 15, argued that achieving peace in Ukraine would likely require accepting partial territorial losses and called for the immediate start of peace negotiations.
"When it comes to peace, I believe that realism must be maintained. Today, probably no sensible person in Europe believes that peace can be achieved without some partial territorial losses for Ukraine," Pellegrini said.
Pellegrini's comments come ahead of the January inauguration of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump who has vowed to get Ukraine and Russia to the negotiating table for peace talks.
Pellegrini has also previously indicated his objection to immediately providing Ukraine with an invite to the NATO military alliance, stating that immediate accession was "not realistic" during wartime.
On Dec. 2, the Russian-friendly, populist prime minister criticized the EU’s new leadership over their supporting words for Ukraine, saying that the made by EU chief diplomat Kaja Kallasand new president of the European Council, Antonio Costa, "did not correspond to the conclusions of the European Union."
Fico halted military aid to Ukraine from the Slovak Armed Forces' stocks after taking office in September 2023 in a stark foreign policy reversal. He recently announced he had accepted the Kremlin's invitation to attend the Victory Day celebrations in Moscow next May.
Dmytro Basmat is a senior news editor for The Kyiv Independent. He previously worked in Canadian politics as a communications lead and spokesperson for a national political party, and as a communications assistant for a Canadian Member of Parliament. Basmat has a Master's degree in Political Management from Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada, and a Bachelor of Arts in Politics and Governance from Toronto Metropolitan University.
Martin Fornusek
