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.
"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."
Georgian Speaker of the Parliament Shalva Papuashvili makes a statement during a joint press conference with Ukrainian Speaker of the Parliament Ruslan Stefanchuk (not seen) in Kyiv, Ukraine, on April 16, 2022. (Georgian Parliament/Handout/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)
Shalva Papuashvili, the speaker of Georgia's parliament and a member of the ruling Georgian Dream party, announced on May 20 that the party plans to overrule Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili's veto of the controversial foreign agents law.
Zourabichvili, Georgia's pro-Western president and a political opponent of Georgian Dream, vetoed the law on May 18, but the government has a large enough majority in parliament to overrule it.
The bill requires organizations that receive foreign funding to be labeled as "foreign agents" and mirrors repressive Russian legislation used to crack down on Kremlin regime critics.
A previously undisclosed amendment to the law, made public on May 17, expands the purview of the legislation to private individuals, who will be required to disclose information about their supposed actions "serving (in) the interests of a foreign power."
Failure to do so would result in a fine of 5,000 Georgian lari (~$1,800).
Papuashvili said the parliament plans to vote to overrule the veto next week, but did not specify the exact date.
Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze criticized Zourabichvili's veto of the law, saying that it blocked "all space for healthy discussion." The parliament's legal committee took just one minute to assess the bill as many opposition lawmakers were blocked by police from entering the building.
There are still potential roadblocks in the law's path, namely a possible review by the judiciary. In her statement explaining the reasoning for her veto, Zourabichvili said that the foreign agents law violates Georgia's constitution by contradicting several key aspects of civil rights enshrined in the document.
The president also said it goes against Article 78 of the constitution, which obliges the government to seek Euro-Atlantic integration.
Due to the government's control over the judiciary, critics say that the likelihood of the courts preventing the law from being enacted is low.
Protests in Tbilisi and other cities in Georgia have continued on a daily basis against the law.
Kobakhidze and other Georgian Dream officials have repeatedly tried to demonize the protest movement and claim that it is seeking to overthrow the government. Reiterating previous comments, Kobakhidze said on May 20 that the movement is trying to cause the "Ukrainisation of Georgia."
The prime minister said in April that the foreign agents law was needed to defend Georgia against "Ukrainization."
Georgian Dream has regularly invoked the trauma of the 2008 Russo-Georgian War and claimed that the West is seeking to involve Georgia in Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Nate Ostiller
