Europe

With Orban out, Slovakia's Fico shifts tone on Ukraine
Europe

With Orban out, Slovakia's Fico shifts tone on Ukraine

by Martin Fornusek

Viktor Orban's electoral defeat appears to be easing Ukraine's relations with not one, but two of its neighbors. President Volodymyr Zelensky met Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico in Yerevan on May 4, continuing an unexpectedly constructive exchange between the two leaders. Zelensky and Fico agreed their governments would hold talks in Kyiv or Bratislava by the end of June to develop cooperation in transport infrastructure and energy, according to the Slovak government. "We are neighbors, we

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Ukraine war latest: Russia plans to strike President's Office, Zelensky says

Key developments on May 15: * Russia plans to strike President's Office building and state residence, Zelensky says * Massive fire erupts at Russia's Ryazan oil refinery as Ukrainian drone blitz hits multiple targets, oblasts * 205 Ukrainian POWs return from Russian captivity in latest exchange * Russia plans to attack Ukraine or NATO from Belarus, Zelensky says * Russian military unit documents own war crime, milblogger publishes then deletes video * Zelensky pays respects to victims of

How leaked conversations suggest backroom influence at a Ukrainian bank

A state-owned bank that formerly belonged to a Russian oligarch is at the center of a spiraling corruption scandal implicating several people close to President Volodymyr Zelensky. In transcripts of recorded conversations published by Ukrainian media outlet Ukrainska Pravda in the first weeks of May, two businessmen with ties to close friends of Zelensky discuss potential candidates for the board of Sense Bank — appearing to exert influence over a process that should be free of outside interfer

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