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.
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.
"Trump needs to believe that Putin actually lies," Zelensky told journalists in Kyiv. "And we should do our part. Sensibly approach this issue, to show that it’s not us that is slowing down the process."
The EU plans to significantly increase tariffs on Ukrainian goods after the current duty-free deal lapses on June 6, the Financial Times reported on May 14, citing undisclosed diplomatic sources.
The blockade ended at 10:30 p.m. local time. Truck traffic in both directions is now moving as usual, according to Ukraine's State Border Guard's statement.
Russia seems to be preparing a significant offensive in Ukraine as it is moving troops toward key positions on the front, the Financial Times reported on May 13, citing undisclosed Ukrainian intelligence officials.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said he will meet with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara, but said both leaders are ready to fly to Istanbul if Russian President Vladimir Putin chooses to attend the talks there.
Andriy Yermak, Zelensky's chief of staff, said that the new pontiff had a phone call with Zelensky on Monday, during which the pope expressed willingness to facilitate meetings between global leaders and vowed to support efforts for "a just and lasting peace."
In an interview with French broadcaster TF1 on May 13, Macron discussed new Russia sanctions and stationing French nuclear weapons in other European countries as a deterrent against Russia.
Performing their song "Bird of Pray," Ukrainian band Ziferblat passed the Eurovision semi-finals on May 13, qualifying Ukraine for the grand final on May 17.
Slovak Defence and Deputy Prime Minister Robert Kalinak addresses a press conference in Bratislava, Slovakia on May 19, 2024 (Vladimir Simicek/AFP via Getty Images)
Slovakia's defense minister has accused his predecessor of "treason" for sending fighter jets to Ukraine, and announced on June 12 he had filed a criminal complaint regarding the matter.
"Weakening the armed forces in this way, contrary to the constitution, cannot be described in our political dictionary as anything other than treason," Robert Kalinak said in comments reported by the Czech news outlet iROZHLAS.
"I don't know if it legally constitutes a crime, but he is a person who betrayed national values."
Kalinak was taking aim at his predecessor, Jaroslav Nad, who while serving as defense minister from March 2020 and May 2023, sent Ukraine several MiG-29 fighter jets to help the country fend off Russia's full-scale invasion.
At the time, Nad said the Soviet-era fighter jets were "unusable" for his country and therefore it was "the right thing" to provide them to Ukraine.
When Kalinak took office in October 2023 as part of Prime Minister Robert Fico's new government, Slovakia said it would no longer send arms to Ukraine from its own military stocks, though it does still allow commercial arms sales.
Nad responded to Kalinak's accusation on June 12, saying that all legal considerations had been taken into account before the signing of the deal to hand over the fighter jets.
"Based on that, the government made a decision as a collective body and approved the signing of an international agreement, which it had the right to do," he said.
He added that another similar criminal report regarding the MiG-29 transfer had been "swept off the table."
While the Slovak government has made its disdain for support for Ukraine clear, some of the country's people took matters into their own hands and launched a fundraising drive to purchase artillery shells for Kyiv.
Slovak citizens started their campaign "Ammunition for Ukraine" on April 16 to raise additional funds for the Czech-led initiative to procure shells around the world after the Slovak government refused to participate.
Within less than a month, over 65,000 people donated 4 million euros ($4.3 million), with one donor giving a single donation of 100,000 euros ($107,000).
Chris York is news operations editor at the Kyiv Independent. Before joining the team, he was head of news at the Kyiv Post. Previously, back in Britain, he spent nearly a decade working for HuffPost UK. He holds an MA in Conflict, Development, and Security from the University of Leeds.
Martin Fornusek
