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.
"Trump needs to believe that Putin actually lies," Zelensky told journalists in Kyiv. "And we should do our part. Sensibly approach this issue, to show that it’s not us that is slowing down the process."
Former U.S. President Donald Trump leaves the stage after speaking during an event at his Mar-a-Lago home on Nov. 15, 2022, in Palm Beach, Florida. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
Poland is hoping its out-of-power populists can help turn Donald Trump against Russia and persuade him to further support Ukraine, Politico reported on May 6.
Trump has long pushed for NATO countries to increase their defense spending and unsettled international allies in February when he said he would allow Russia to do "whatever the hell they want" to member countries failing to meet defense spending criteria.
Polish President Andrzej Duda met with the former president in New York City on April 17, where the two "discussed the war between Russia and Ukraine, the conflict with Israel in the Middle East, and many other topics having to do with getting to world peace," a statement by the Trump campaign read.
A day after the meeting, Trump, who has repeatedly praised Russian President Vladimir Putin and often criticized aid to Ukraine, wrote on social media: "As everyone agrees, Ukrainian Survival and Strength should be much more important to Europe than to us, but it is also important to us! GET MOVING EUROPE!"
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Duda also met with Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson, with some crediting the meeting with helping the long-delayed vote on U.S. military aid for Ukraine.
"Duda is our Republican whisperer," Michal Baranowski, who leads the German Marshall Fund’s Poland office, told Politico.
Conservative politicians close to the formerly ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party and Duda played up the apparent role he had played in persuading Trump and Johnson to take a more pro-Ukraine stance.
"A big round of applause for President Andrzej Duda, who has gained powerful resources to fight Russian imperialism," said Dariusz Matecki, a lawmaker of the Sovereign Poland party allied with PiS.
But others were less inclined to believe that Polish officials had such sway over U.S. politics. EU lawmaker Andrzej Halicki told Politico the idea was "nonsense."
Ahead of U.S. presidential elections later this year and a possible Trump victory, his stance on Russia and Ukraine is cause for concern in European capitals, particularly Kyiv.
Trump has repeatedly said he could end Russia’s war within 24 hours if elected president, without specifying the steps for reaching a peace deal between Kyiv and Moscow.
The former president "made it very clear" that he believed Ukraine "must be part of Russia," his former advisor Fiona Hill said, according to The Guardian, citing an excerpt from a book by The New York Times reporter David Sanger.
Carl Bildt
