Ukraine remains the most mined country in the world. Nearly one-third of Ukraine's territory, approximately 174,000 square kilometers, had been mined since Russia began its full-scale invasion of the country in February 2022.
The phone call comes as Moscow once again rejected a 30-day ceasefire, with Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Maria Zakharova claiming that a ceasefire would give "Kyiv a break to restore its military potential and continue its confrontation with Russia."
Flight MH17 departed from Amsterdam Schiphol Airport en-route to Kuala Lumpur International Airport on July 17, 2014. Three hours into the flight, the Boeing-777 was shot down by Russian proxy forces using a Buk surface-to-air missile above Ukraine’s Donetsk Oblast.
"I am grateful for the support and the readiness at the highest level to promote diplomacy," President Volodymyr Zelensky said of the phone conservation with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. "We share the same view on the need for a ceasefire."
The convictions mark a significant development in Britain's efforts to counter Russian intelligence operations amid heightened tensions stemming from Moscow's war against Ukraine and repeated Kremlin threats toward Kyiv's allies.
According to the Verkhovna Rada's website, Ukraine completed the ratification of the U.S.-Ukraine minerals agreement on May 12. President Volodymyr Zelensky signed the deal.
"I myself have heard relatives talking: our village is being attacked, let's roll the car out of the garage, maybe they will shell it — at least we will get money. The car is old, we can't sell it," Belgorod Oblast Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said.
The new tranche brings total recent EU defense support for Ukraine to 3.3 billion euros ($3.6 billion), marking a significant expansion of European efforts to boost Kyiv's defense industry.
Offshore patrol ships TCG Akhisar and TCG Kochisar launched in a ceremony held at Istanbul Shipyard Command, on Sept. 23, 2023 in Istanbul, Turkey. (Sercan Ozkurnazli/ dia images via Getty Images)
Turkey, Romania, and Bulgaria plan to sign an agreement on joint clearance of mines in the Black Sea in January, Turkish Defense Minister Yasar Guler said on Dec. 16, Reuters reported.
For months, the three NATO countries have been leading talks on the issue of mines floating in the Black Sea as a result of Russia's aggression against Ukraine.
"As part of the Trilateral Initiative launched under the leadership of our country to combat the mine threat in the Black Sea, we held the third round of the Black Sea Mine Action Task Force meeting on Nov. 22-23, hosted by our ministry," Guler said during a press conference.
"We are planning to hold a signing ceremony in Istanbul on Jan. 11, 2024, with the presence of the three countries' defense ministers."
The minister said that mine-clearing vessels of the initiative's countries would carry out constant patrols to the point where Romania's sea borders end.
Guler noted that, for now, there are no plans to include other states in the initiative.
The defense chiefs of the three countries held talks on the plan at a NATO meeting in Brussels in October and later in Anakara in November. Although all three countries are NATO members, the initiative would not be considered an alliance operation.
Hundreds of sea mines, deployed by both Russia and Ukraine, are spread throughout the Black Sea. On several occasions, civilian ships or navy ships belonging to countries not party to the war have struck sea mines since the beginning of the full-scale invasion.
A Liberian-flagged oil tanker hit a mine in the Black Sea off the Romanian coast on Oct. 15, and a Turkish cargo ship suffered minor damage from a mine 20 kilometers from the Romanian port of Sulina on Oct. 5.
