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.
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.
Illustrative image: This photograph taken in Chisinau on Nov. 13, 2023 shows modernized gas burners used to produce high temperature steam for the turbines of electricity generators at the Chisinau thermal power plant CET-1. Russia's Gazprom announced on December 28, 2024 that it will halt gas supplies to Moldova from Jan. 1 over a debt dispute. (Daniel Mihailescu / AFP via Getty Images)
Poland has expressed willingness to increase electricity exports to Ukraine if Slovakia halts its supply, Bloomberg reported on Dec. 29, citing an unnamed Polish official.
Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico threatened to stop electricity exports to Ukraine on Dec. 27, in response to Ukraine's decision to no longer transit Russian gas in 2025. Ukraine relies on energy imports from the EU amid Russian aerial attacks on energy infrastructure.
"If it is unavoidable, we will halt the electricity supplies that Ukraine needs during grid outages," Fico said in response to Ukraine's plans to no longer transit Russian gas on Dec. 27.
Poland is ready to increase domestic electricity production if Slovakia halts the delivery of backup power supplies to Ukraine, an unnamed Polish official said, adding that the country is ready to compensate for any shortage that Ukraine's strained system would suffer from, the official said.
Ukraine is a key transit route for Russian gas to reach the EU. While much of the EU has abandoned Russian gas, Slovakia has remained heavily reliant on Russian gas imports.
Ukraine's contract to transit Russian gas expires on Dec. 31. Ukraine will not renew its contract, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Dec. 19.
"It appears that Putin has ordered Fico to open a second energy front against Ukraine, at the expense of the interests of the people of Slovakia," Zelensky said on Dec. 28 in response to Fico's threats.
Energy companies from Austria, Hungary, Italy, and Slovakia have called for the continued transit of Russian gas via Ukraine.
EU sanctions have been reluctant to target Russian gas imports due to the bloc's reliance. The EU first imposed sanctions on Russian gas in June, over two years after the start of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Fico's stance marks a shift from Slovakia's previous commitment to increase electricity supplies to Ukraine in July.
Volodymyr Ivanyshyn is a news editor for The Kyiv Independent. He is pursuing an Honors Bachelor of Arts at the University of Toronto, majoring in political science with a minor in anthropology and human geography. Volodymyr holds a Certificate in Business Fundamentals from Rotman Commerce at the University of Toronto. He previously completed an internship with The Kyiv Independent.
Sonya Bandouil
