Russia attacked Ukraine with drones and guided bombs during the night, targeting multiple regions after the May 12 deadline for an unconditional ceasefire expired.
"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.
Photo for illustrative purposes. Russian President Vladimir Putin (C) smiles as Azeri Ambassador in Russia Polad Bubuloglu (L) looks on during his arrival to Baku's airport, August 18, 2024, in Baku, Azerbaijan. (Contributor/Getty Images)
Russia has announced it will not participate in any future iterations of the Swiss-hosted peace summit held in June, labeling the process a "fraud," Russia's Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Sept. 21.
Moscow was not invited to the June summit attended by over 90 countries, dismissed the discussions as irrelevant without its involvement. President Volodymyr Zelensky, however, has expressed hope for a follow-up meeting by the end of the year, with the goal of including Russia.
Zakharova criticized the summit on Telegram, saying: "This process itself has nothing to do with a settlement. It is another manifestation of fraud by the Anglo-Saxons and their Ukrainian puppets." She emphasized that Russia is open to considering "truly serious proposals" that acknowledge the "situation on the ground," a vague reference to Russia’s annexation of four Ukrainian regions, none of which it fully controls.
Zakharova accused Ukraine and its Western allies of having no interest in pursuing peace, referencing Ukraine's recent incursion into Russia's southern Kursk region and Zelensky's continued requests for long-range Western weapons. She said that Ukraine and its Western backers "were not thinking about peace."
Ahead of the June summit, Russian President Vladimir Putin had outlined conditions for negotiations, which included Kyiv's surrender of the four oblasts that Moscow now claims. Russia has since said it won't engage in talks as long as Ukrainian forces remain in the Kursk region.
Zelensky has a plan on how to end Russia’s war with Ukraine’s victory. Kyiv remains tight-lipped about the specifics of the plan as Zelensky readies to present it to U.S. President Joe Biden and American presidential candidates during his upcoming visit. The plan is expected to cover military, political, diplomatic, and economic strategies.
Olena Goncharova is the Head of North America desk at The Kyiv Independent, where she has previously worked as a development manager and Canadian correspondent. She first joined the Kyiv Post, Ukraine's oldest English-language newspaper, as a staff writer in January 2012 and became the newspaper’s Canadian correspondent in June 2018. She is based in Edmonton, Alberta. Olena has a master’s degree in publishing and editing from the Institute of Journalism in Taras Shevchenko National University in Kyiv. Olena was a 2016 Alfred Friendly Press Partners fellow who worked for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette for six months. The program is administered by the University of Missouri School of Journalism in Columbia.
Dinara Khalilova
