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.
"I myself have heard relatives talking: our village is being attacked, let's roll the car out of the garage, maybe they will shell it — at least we will get money. The car is old, we can't sell it," Belgorod Oblast Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said.
The new tranche brings total recent EU defense support for Ukraine to 3.3 billion euros ($3.6 billion), marking a significant expansion of European efforts to boost Kyiv's defense industry.
Pope Francis speaks with journalists aboard the papal plane as he returns to Rome on September 23, 2023 in Marseille, France. (Photo by Vatican Media via Vatican Pool/Getty Images)
Pope Francis said that nations should not "play games" with Ukraine on the matter of military aid, Reuters reported on Sept. 23.
The pope spoke to reporters about his "frustrations" with the war and the arms industry aboard the papal plane while returning to the Vatican from a visit to France.
"It seems to me that the interests in this war are not just those related to the Ukrainian-Russian problem but to the sale of weapons, the commerce of weapons," Pope Francis said.
The pope compared walking back promises of weapons and aid to playing a game.
"We should not play games with the martyrdom of this people," he said.
Pope Francis did not mention any countries by name. Conservative factions in the United States have pressured the government to limit aid deliveries to Ukraine, while Poland recently announced it would curtail weapons transfers in order to focus on its own arsenal.
"I see now that some countries are moving backwards, not wanting to give [Ukraine] arms. A process is starting in which the martyr certainly will be the Ukrainian people and that is an ugly thing," the pope said.
Vatican spokesperson Matteo Bruni expanded on the pope's comments when asked for clarification.
"It was a reflection on the consequences of the arms industry...those who traffic in weapons never pay the consequences of their choices but leave them to be paid by people, like the Ukrainians, who have been martyred," Bruni said.
Abbey Fenbert is a senior news editor at the Kyiv Independent. She is a freelance writer, editor, and playwright with an MFA from Boston University. Abbey served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Ukraine from 2008-2011.
Dinara Khalilova
