Turkish Presidential Communications Director Fahrettin Altun told Italian newspaper Il Messaggero that "as a result of our negotiations, a consensus was achieved" to establish the center, and Istanbul hopes that ships loaded with Ukrainian grain will depart "as soon as possible." Russia is blocking from export 20 million tons of grain in the Ukrainian ports.
"Hungary cannot play the decisive role here; that's a matter for the major powers. We can provide diplomatic and humanitarian aid, and Hungary could also be a venue for negotiations," Hungarian Prime Minister Peter Magyar said.
The U.S. House of Representatives advanced the Ukraine Support Act despite opposition from the Trump administration and Republican leadership, setting up a final vote on the measure on June 4.
Russian oil exports to Hungary and Slovakia via the Druzhba pipeline have returned to normal after a months-long outage that fueled tensions between Ukraine and the Central European countries.
Greece has issued formal diplomatic protests to Ukraine after an explosives-laden naval drone was discovered in the country's waters last month, the Greek Foreign Ministry said on June 3.
Hungarian Prime Minister Peter Magyar announced on June 3 that an agreement had been found with Ukraine over the rights of the country's Hungarian-speaking minority.
The visit comes only a day after one of Russia's heaviest attacks killed over 20 people and injured over 100 across Ukraine.
The attack coincided with the beginning of the 2026 St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, an annual conference of business leaders and government officials hosted by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
"Unfortunately, as of today, even the legal groundwork for this contract has yet to be completed," Zelensky added. "I have set a final deadline: one week for all preparatory steps. I expect a report on Friday — either there is clarity on implementing our Patriot agreement, or there will be serious personnel decisions."
Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha called on Europe to use the European Peace Facility to buy U.S. Patriot systems and missiles for Ukraine.
More than 2,300 companies carried out over Hr 198 billion ($4.5 billion) in foreign trade transactions and then largely vanished, State Tax Service head Lesya Karnaukh wrote on social media. The majority — 1,243 companies — were involved in exporting goods.
Ukraine's state railway company needs to increase freight tariffs by at least 45%, the company's CEO said, as its finances deteriorate amid Russian strikes and pressure from lenders.
The Kyiv Independent’s Kateryna Hodunova speaks with Mykola Bielieskov, senior analyst at Come Back Alive and research fellow at the National Institute for Strategic Studies, about the latest developments on Ukraine’s battlefield.
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