"I am waiting to see who will come from Russia, and then I will decide which steps Ukraine should take. So far, the signals from them in the media are unconvincing," President Volodymyr Zelensky said.
The air raid was announced at around 2:30 p.m. local time, while the explosion sounded around 2:50 p.m. The number of victims killed rose to three, Sumy Oblast Governor Oleh Hryhorov reported at 8:42 p.m.
If confirmed, the decision would mark the first time since Russia's full-scale invasion that President Volodymyr Zelensky is absent, either physically or virtually, from a NATO summit.
The disclosure follows a warning from Digital Affairs Minister Krzysztof Gawkowski, who on May 6 said Moscow was carrying out an "unprecedented" interference campaign.
Brazilian President Lula da Silva claimed that Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha had appealed to his Brazilian counterpart, Mauro Vieira, to ask Putin if he was willing to conclude a peace agreement.
Earlier reporting from the Washington Post cited a former Russian official who claimed Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Putin’s foreign policy aide, Yuri Ushakov, would represent Moscow in the talks.
The Council of Europe on May 14 approved the creation of a special tribunal to prosecute Russia's top leadership for the crime of aggression against Ukraine, Ukrainian lawmaker Maria Mezentseva reported.
Viktoria Roshchyna, 27, disappeared in August 2023 while reporting from Ukraine's Russian-occupied territories. Moscow admitted she was in Russian detention the following year.
Dutch Justice Minister David van Weel speaks about the future of the EU-led special tribunal for the crime of aggression against Ukraine and its role in bringing Russia to justice.
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.
Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal during a government meeting on Jan. 19, 2024. (Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal/Telegram)
Ukraine has fulfilled three of the four additional recommendations presented by the European Commission in November 2023, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said on Jan. 19.
The fourth point, a bill on lobbying, has been approved by the parliament in the first reading, the prime minister noted during a government meeting.
In its November assessment, the EU's executive arm acknowledged Ukraine's progress toward membership, saying that "well over 90% of the necessary steps that we set out last year" were completed.
Nevertheless, the Commission presented four additional reforms Ukraine should undertake to complete all steps fully.
Kyiv has already completed three of them, including a staff increase of the NABU, one of the country's chief anti-corruption agencies, reopening the assets declaration registry, and implementing changes to national minorities law.
The European Council acknowledged Ukraine's reform efforts as well, agreeing to start accession talks during a summit in December.
"In addition, without waiting for the decision of European partners, the government launched the so-called self-screening of Ukrainian legislation for compliance with European law," Shmyhal said, according to his Telegram channel.
Legislation screening is one of the necessary preparation steps for the accession negotiations. Shmyhal said that around 2,800 EU legal acts need to be implemented as part of the admission process.
During a meeting between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Jan. 16 in Davos, the two leaders agreed to start the screening process.
Shmyhal further said that in 2024, Ukraine will approve the National Program for the Adaptation of Ukraine's Legislation to the Law of the European Union.
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.
Vladyslav Kudryk
