"Only member states can take out loans within the 150 billion euros instrument, but they can use these funds for joint procurement with Ukraine," EU Defense Commissioner Andrius Kubilius said.
"We agreed to pursue ambitious measures to reduce Russia's ability to wage war by limiting Kremlin revenues, disrupting the shadow fleet, tightening the Oil Price Cap, and reducing our remaining imports of Russian energy."
Zelensky on May 12 removed Lieutenant General Ivan Havryliuk from the Headquarters of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, the top command and control body for all branches of Ukraine's defense apparatus.
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.
Viktor Medvedchuk, a Ukrainian oligarch and one of the leaders of the pro-Kremlin party Opposition Platform - For Life, failed to declare assets worth over $2.7 million, according to the National Agency for the Prevention of Corruption. (Press service of Viktor Medvedchuk)
Lawmaker Viktor Medvedchuk, co-head of the pro-Kremlin 44-member Opposition Platform - For Life faction, failed to declare assets worth over Hr 73 million ($2.7 million), the National Agency for the Prevention of Corruption (NAPC) announced on Dec. 8.
According to the agency, Medvedchuk did not declare his Kyiv land plot and house, worth Hr 29 million ($1.1 million) and Hr 16 million ($592,000) respectively, in his 2020 asset declaration.
The lawmaker was further accused of not specifying the value of four of his cars, together valued at approximately Hr 27 million ($1 million). The NAPC also said that Medvedchuk didn't disclose six cars and a land plot in occupied Crimea owned by his wife, former TV presenter Oksana Marchenko.
Medvedchuk's party's website refuted the NAPC's claims, saying that they are groundless and are an example of state-sponsored political repression against the pro-Kremlin lawmaker. The statement further said that Medvedchuk acquired the property in question long before he became a lawmaker in 2019.
According to law, undeclaring over Hr 4.5 million ($166,000) is punishable by either a fine of up to Hr 85,000 ($3,145), 240 hours of community service, or imprisonment for up to two years.
The NAPC said that “this is a record sum of undeclared assets that the NAPC found during its review of officials' declarations this year.”
The past year has seen a precipitous fall from grace for Medvedchuk, an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is the godfather of the lawmaker's daughter.
In February, three pro-Kremlin TV channels allegedly belonging to Medvedchuk through his intermediary Taras Kozak, another Opposition Platform lawmaker, were yanked off the air by the National Security and Defense Council as a result of sanctions imposed on Kozak.
On Feb. 19, the National Security and Defense Council also imposed sanctions on Medvedchuk himself. The High Anti-Corruption Court ordered the seizure of an oil pipeline that was allegedly controlled by Medvedchuk on Feb. 23. The politician denied owning it.
In May, Medvedchuk was charged with high treason for allegedly colluding with the Russian government to extract natural resources in occupied Crimea.
In October, Medvedchuk was charged with his second count of high treason, as well as terrorism, for allegedly sabotaging Ukraine's energy independence. He remains under house arrest and previously denied wrongdoing.
Victoria Petryk is a staff writer at the Kyiv Independent. She studied philology at Kyiv National Linguistic University. She worked at the Embassy of Israel in Kyiv as an information officer before joining the Kyiv Post as a staff writer in October 2021.
