The Council of Europe on May 14 approved the creation of a special tribunal to prosecute Russia's top leadership for the crime of aggression against Ukraine, Ukrainian lawmaker Maria Mezentseva reported.
Viktoria Roshchyna, 27, disappeared in August 2023 while reporting from Ukraine's Russian-occupied territories. Moscow admitted she was in Russian detention the following year.
European foreign ministers approved the creation of a special tribunal for the crime of aggression against Ukraine during a meeting in Lviv on May 9. The tribunal, which will operate under the auspices of the Council of Europe, aims to prosecute Russia's top political and military leadership, including President Vladimir Putin. Ukraine expects the tribunal to start work in 2026. The Kyiv Independent’s Kateryna Hodunova spoke with Dutch Justice Minister David van Weel about the future tribunal and its role in bringing justice for Ukraine.
Turkish officials told Bloomberg that while they don't expect Trump to visit Istanbul, they are not ruling it out, and preparations for any scenario are underway.
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.
A British union flag outside luxury residential properties in the Chelsea and Kensington borough in London, U.K., on Feb. 20, 2025. (Chris Ratcliffe / Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Editor's note: The story was expanded by reporting from NBC News.
U.K.'s Prime Minister Keir Starmer is set to deliver a stark message to European leaders, urging them to confront the "brutal reality" of growing security threats and commit to higher defense spending.
At a high-stakes security summit in London on March 2, he will push allies to take concrete steps to support Ukraine, emphasizing that diplomatic statements alone will not persuade Washington to maintain its security guarantees. The meeting which will be attended by leaders from France, Italy, Canada, Germany, and Turkey, has gained urgency following U.S. President Donald Trump’s clash with President Volodymyr Zelensky, which raised concerns about future American support for Kyiv.
Amid the diplomatic fallout, the Trump administration has privately signaled that it expects a public apology from Zelensky to mend relations, European officials told Bloomberg. An undisclosed U.S. official told NBC News that Trump believes that Zelensky has to be the one to come back to the table and make it right.
In a bid to stabilize the transatlantic alliance, Starmer has taken on a central diplomatic role, leveraging his recent White House meeting to keep communication open between Trump and European leaders. Following Zelensky’s tense encounter with Trump, British officials have worked behind the scenes to prevent the situation from spiraling further.
Starmer personally reached out to both Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron to encourage renewed dialogue, positioning the U.K. as a key intermediary between Washington and European capitals.
In the meantime, some NATO leaders, including Secretary General Mark Rutte, have encouraged Zelensky to rebuild ties with Trump, recognizing the U.S. remains Ukraine’s most important military backer.
Starmer and Macron are also pushing for a European-led security initiative, including a potential peacekeeping force, to safeguard any future ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia. While Trump has so far refused to back such efforts, Starmer will argue that a stronger European defense posture could help secure American support.
He believes that demonstrating Europe’s ability to shoulder more responsibility may prevent Trump from fully disengaging from Ukraine. The challenge, however, is convincing other European nations to step up their own defense contributions and commit to long-term military assistance.
With the London summit now a critical test for European unity, Starmer is working to prevent Trump from sidelining European leaders in any potential negotiations with Russia. His strategy hinges on ensuring that Ukraine remains central to peace talks while securing commitments from European allies to sustain military and financial aid.
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.
Dmytro Basmat
