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.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot attends the London Sudan conference marking the two-year anniversary of the Sudan conflict, at Lancaster House on April 15, 2025, in London, England. (Isabel Infantes - WPA Pool/Getty Images)
Russian President Vladimir Putin's so-called Easter truce was a "charm offensive" aimed at appeasing U.S. President Donald Trump, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot told FranceInfo on April 22.
The Trump administration has grown increasingly impatient with its stalled efforts to broker a ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia.
The U.S. president has even said he would abandon the effort unless there is tangible progress, though he later voiced optimism that the deal could be reached.
"The Easter truce that Putin announced, somewhat unexpectedly, was more of a PR move — a charm offensive intended to prevent President Trump from becoming impatient or upset," Barrot told the broadcaster.
Putin's ceasefire was to last from 6 p.m. on April 19 until midnight on April 21, but failed to hold. Ukraine has said Russian forces violated the truce in almost 3,000 cases.
Moscow also accused Kyiv of violations, while Ukraine has said it would carry out military actions only in a "symmetrical" response to Russian attacks.
Ukraine also responded to the Russian proposal by suggesting a 30-day ceasefire on all long-range drone and missile strikes against civilian infrastructure. The Kremlin signaled it would review the proposal, but its forces launched heavy attacks against Zaporizhzhia, Kharkiv, Kherson, Odesa, and other cities on April 22.
"The U.S. encouraged Kyiv to go further by suggesting a full 30-day ceasefire. Ukraine accepted, and now it's up to Putin to accept the same principle," Barrot said. Moscow previously rejected a full 30-day truce agreed upon by Kyiv and Washington on March 11 in Jeddah.
European, Ukrainian, and U.S. officials held talks on a potential ceasefire deal in Paris on April 17, with a follow-up meeting scheduled for April 23 in London. Barrot said that European leaders outlined their "red lines" in a peace deal, but he did not elaborate on the specifics.
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.
Natalia Yermak
