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.
Three F-16 fighting jets of the Romanian Air Force fly over a Romanian flag during a military parade marking the National Day of Romania in Bucharest on Dec. 1, 2023. (Daniel Mihailescu/AFP via Getty Images)
Romania could shoot down aircraft illegally violating its airspace based on the level of threat, according to a draft law published by the Romanian Defense Ministry on Oct. 28.
Bucharest reported numerous cases of Russian drones crashing on its territory or violating its airspace near the Ukrainian border following mass strikes on Ukraine.
According to the proposed legislation, the Romanian military would be able to intercept and, when necessary, destroy piloted and unmanned aircraft breaching its airspace under certain circumstances.
The document must be approved by the Romanian government and the parliament.
Depending on the level of threat, "unauthorized" drones may be disabled or taken control of with "non-kinetic" means or shot down.
The interception of a piloted aircraft would follow several steps, including establishing radio contact, transmitting instructions to the pilot, and firing a warning shot. The use of "destructive force" by aircraft or ground-based air defenses would be the last resort.
The Romanian military would attempt to shoot down the aircraft only after establishing all the circumstances and the level of threat and taking into account international law and the safety of people's lives and property, the document says.
Allied forces stationed in Romania would be permitted to take part in the operations.
Romania has urged NATO partners to present a "robust and coordinated" response to Russian missiles and drones violating the allied airspace. Latvia and Poland also reported similar breaches.
Ukraine has urged NATO to intercept Russian drones and missiles over Ukrainian airspace both to protect Ukraine and their own countries. No country has committed to that step so far nor intercepted Russian projectiles in its airspace.
Martin Fornusek is a news editor at the Kyiv Independent. He has previously worked as a news content editor at the media company Newsmatics and is a contributor to Euromaidan Press. He was also volunteering as an editor and translator at the Czech-language version of Ukraïner. Martin studied at Masaryk University in Brno, Czechia, holding a bachelor's degree in security studies and history and a master's degree in conflict and democracy studies.
Kateryna Denisova
