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.
"I myself have heard relatives talking: our village is being attacked, let's roll the car out of the garage, maybe they will shell it — at least we will get money. The car is old, we can't sell it," Belgorod Oblast Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said.
The new tranche brings total recent EU defense support for Ukraine to 3.3 billion euros ($3.6 billion), marking a significant expansion of European efforts to boost Kyiv's defense industry.
Pentagon Spokesperson Gen. Pat Ryder at the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia on Oct. 31, 2023. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
Pentagon spokesperson General Pat Ryder hinted on Feb. 9 that air defense missiles and other capabilities are still flowing to Ukraine under the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI).
Congress authorized $300 million for long-term defense contracts under USAI for Ukraine in December 2023. A much larger package of $60 billion remains stalled by disputes in Congress, greatly limiting Washington's capability to provide assistance to the besieged country.
When asked by a reporter whether the U.S. continues providing air defenses to Ukraine under USAI, Ryder said he cannot provide a number but said that "there are certain capabilities that were contracted under USAI, which does include some air defense capabilities."
When asked again whether there are "flowing U.S. air defense missiles to Ukraine, right now," Ryder responded: "To my knowledge, that and other capabilities that we've announced as it relates to USAI."
Air defense capabilities, such as U.S. Patriot systems, play a crucial role in protecting Ukraine against regular Russian attacks. Russia launched several massive missile and drone strikes in the past weeks and months, most recently on Feb. 7.
The U.S. has been Ukraine's chief provider of military aid since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, but domestic politics have increasingly made U.S. aid a partisan issue. Republican lawmakers have blocked aid for months now, effectively causing the flow of security assistance to run dry.
There have been at least a partial breakthrough recently, as the Senate voted on Feb. 8 to move the $95 billion foreign aid bill, including $60 billion for Ukraine, forward in a procedural vote.
Pentagon officials have repeatedly warned that aid provided under the Presidential Drawdown Authority (PDA), which is separate from USAI, has run out and cannot be restored without Congress approving the funding.
Martin Fornusek is a news editor at the Kyiv Independent. He has previously worked as a news content editor at the media company Newsmatics and is a contributor to Euromaidan Press. He was also volunteering as an editor and translator at the Czech-language version of Ukraïner. Martin studied at Masaryk University in Brno, Czechia, holding a bachelor's degree in security studies and history and a master's degree in conflict and democracy studies.
Torbjörn Becker
