The agreement, signed on April 30, establishes a joint investment fund between Kyiv and Washington and grants the U.S. special access to projects developing Ukraine's natural resources.
Ukraine is considering moving away from the U.S. dollar and closer to the euro as a benchmark for the hryvnia, National Bank Governor Andrii Pyshnyi told Reuters.
The Atesh partisan group claims it disabled communication at several Russian military facilities when it allegedly destroyed equipment at a transformer substation in the village of Mogiltsy in Russia's Moscow Oblast.
Republican presidential nominee, former President Donald Trump, holds a town hall at the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center on Oct. 14, 2024, in Oaks, Pennsylvania. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
Donald Trump said on Oct. 14 that during his presidency, he "(got) along very well with (Russian President Vladimir) Putin," implying that the Russian leader often talked about his ambition to control Ukraine.
The comments came three weeks before the U.S. presidential election, which can have a profound impact on Washington's support for Ukraine's struggle against Russian aggression.
"I get along very well with Putin. I got; I fully understand what's happening," the Republican candidate for U.S. presidency said at a town hall event in Oaks, Pennsylvania, regarding Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
"It (Ukraine) was the apple of his eye; he used to talk about it. But I said, 'You're not going in,' and he wasn't going in."
The former president repeated his assertion that there "wouldn't be a war between Russia and Ukraine" if he had been in the White House instead of Joe Biden in the past years.
Russia's aggression against Ukraine began in 2014 with the occupation of Crimea and invasion of Donbas, with hostilities ongoing throughout Trump's presidential term of 2017-2021.
Speaking at the event, Trump also claimed he "(gets) along very well with (Ukraine's President Volodymyr) Zelensky," highlighting their meeting in New York during the Ukrainian president's visit to the U.S.
During their meeting in late September, Trump again praised his relationship with both Zelensky and Putin. Zelensky also met with President Biden and Trump's rival in the upcoming vote, Vice President Kamala Harris.
Trump's boasting about good ties with Putin has contributed to the concerns about his future policy toward Ukraine should he become president.
Excerpts from U.S. journalist Bob Woodward's new book, "War," claim that Trump has spoken to Putin seven times since leaving office in 2021 and secretly sent the Russian president Covid testing devices during his presidency.
Trump has often claimed he would end Russia's war within "24 hours" without elaborating on how he plans to achieve it. Some reports and statements from Trump's inner circle indicate this might entail pressuring Ukraine to cede territory or give up on its NATO aspirations.
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.
Oleg Sukhov
