Melkonyants was arrested in August 2023 in connection with the activities of the European Network of Election Monitoring Organizations (ENEMO), which was co-founded by Golos's legal predecessor, the Golos association.
Ukraine's underground storage facilities are currently using 19.4% of their capacity. Almost 32%, or 2.79 bcm, less gas is available in the storages than in the previous year, according to the estimates.
The majority of Ukrainians, 71%, do not support holding elections before a full peace deal, even in the case of a ceasefire and security guarantees, according to a poll published by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS) on May 14.
"He'd like me to be there, and that's a possibility. ... I don't know that he would be there if I'm not there. We're going to find out," U.S. President Donald Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One while traveling to Qatar, Reuters reported.
Trump has long demanded that NATO allies increase their military spending, previously calling for the alliance to raise its benchmark from 2% to 5% of GDP.
More than 1,000 Russian government entities and 1,200 private companies are involved in the economy of occupied Mariupol, a major southeastern city occupied by Russia after it invaded Ukraine in 2022, according to a research paper published on May 14.
The measures target almost 200 ships of Russia's "shadow fleet," 30 companies involved in sanctions evasion, 75 sanctions on entities and individuals linked to the Russian military-industrial complex, and more.
The government has approved "reform roadmaps in the rule of law, public administration, and democratic institutions, as well as Ukraine’s negotiation position," Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said.
The statement did not name the ex-official by name, but details of the case indicate it relates to Oleh Hladkovsky, a former deputy secretary of Ukraine's top security body who has been wanted since mid-April.
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.
Prime Minister of Ukraine, Denys Shmyhal, speaks during a concluding session of an international conference of experts for post-war reconstruction in Ukraine on Oct. 25, 2022, in Berlin, Germany. (Photo by Omer Messinger/Getty Images)
Ukraine has "a very ambitious plan" to join the European Union within the next two years, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal told Politico.
"So we expect that this year, in 2023, we can already have the pre-entry stage of negotiations," Shmyhal said ahead of the EU-Ukraine summit, set to take place in Kyiv on Feb. 3.
European Council granted Ukraine candidate status on June 23, in a historic step on the long and difficult path to EU membership for the war-torn country.
French President Emmanuel Macron said in May that "decades" could pass before Ukraine's accession. Other EU leaders, who supported Ukraine's candidate status, privately admit that Ukraine's prospect of actually joining the EU is quite remote, according to Politico.
Shmyhal also told Politico that he hopes Ukraine could make a "significant leap forward" at the upcoming EU-Ukraine summit, particularly in the following areas: a visa-free agreement for industrial goods, suspension of customs duties on Ukrainian exports for another year as well as joining the SEPA (Single Euro Payments Area) payment scheme and Ukraine's inclusion in the EU mobile roaming zone.
According to Shmyhal, the Ukrainian government is ready to review the recently adopted legislation on the Constitutional Court in order to meet the requirements of both the European Commission and the Venice Commission. The changes to the law may be implemented even before the Feb. 3 summit, Prime Minister said.
The Ukraine-EU summit is an annual event as part of Article 5 of the Association Agreement between Ukraine and the EU. The Feb. 3 summit's theme is expected to be the EU's further support for Ukraine in the face of Russia's aggression.
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