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.
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.
U.S. President Donald Trump holds up a chart while speaking during a “Make America Wealthy Again” trade announcement event in the Rose Garden at the White House on April 2, 2025, in Washington, DC.(Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
The U.S. did not include Russia on its "Liberation Day" tariff list as the existing sanctions "preclude any meaningful trade," Axios reported on April 3, citing White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt.
U.S. President Donald Trump unveiled a sweeping list of "reciprocial tariffs" on April 2, imposing a baseline 10% duty on all countries — including Ukraine — with even higher rates for major trade partners like the EU.
Russia and Belarus were not included on the list, according to the White House charts.
Talking to Axios, Leavitt said that Russia and Belarus were left off the list because of the already imposed economic sanctions. The news outlet nevertheless noted that even countries with a smaller traded volume with the U.S., such as Mauritius and Brunei, were included.
The spokesperson added that other heavily sanctioned countries, such as Cuba and North Korea, were also left out of the list.
The U.S. and other nations imposed heavy sanctions against Moscow after the start of its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. U.S.-Russia trade flows went from $36 billion in 2021 to about $3.5 billion in 2024.
Trump previously hinted at the possibility of easing some of the sanctions imposed on Russia as part of an effort to broker a ceasefire and a peace deal in Ukraine.
At the same time, the U.S. president threatened Moscow with secondary tariffs on Russian oil exports as he grows frustrated with stalled negotiations.
The new tariffs were described by the media as a "historic global trade war," with the Trump administration presenting it as a step toward restoring economic sovereignty and security.
Some 60 countries or trading blocs were hit with additional duties higher than the 10% baseline, including the EU (20%), China (34%), and Taiwan (32%). Canada and Mexico were among those excluded due to the already existing 25% tariff.
The list includes some surprising additions, such as Heard and McDonald Islands, Australia's uninhabited external territory about 1,500 kilometers (900 miles) north of Antarctica.
"My advice to every country right now is do not retaliate. Sit back, take it in, let's see how it goes," U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Fox News's Special Report program.
"If you don't retaliate, this is the high-water mark."
The EU and China have already pledged a response to Trump's tariffs.
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.
Katie Marie Davies
