If confirmed, the decision would mark the first time since Russia's full-scale invasion that President Volodymyr Zelensky is absent, either physically or virtually, from a NATO summit.
The disclosure follows a warning from Digital Affairs Minister Krzysztof Gawkowski, who on May 6 said Moscow was carrying out an "unprecedented" interference campaign.
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.
Earlier reporting from the Washington Post cited a former Russian official who claimed Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Putin’s foreign policy aide, Yuri Ushakov, would represent Moscow in the talks.
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.
Dutch Justice Minister David van Weel speaks about the future of the EU-led special tribunal for the crime of aggression against Ukraine and its role in bringing Russia to justice.
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.
Ukrainian Gas Transmission System Operator's (GTSOU) signboards are seen over the garden fence in Kyiv, Ukraine on May 11, 2022. (Dogukan Keskinkilic/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images) // UEW
Ukraine will increase gas transit tariffs for its domestic customers fourfold starting Jan. 1 when a deal to transport Russian gas through Ukrainian pipes expires, the National Energy Regulatory Commission said during a meeting on Dec. 30.
Russia has been paying Ukraine transport fees to carry its gas through underground Ukrainian pipelines as part of a 2019 deal between the two countries. Ukraine has repeatedly said that it will not extend the agreement when it expires at the end of this year.
During the meeting, the director of Ukraine's gas transit operator GTS Operator, Dmytro Lyppa, said that the Russian deal previously covered 85% of the operator's income from gas transit, according to reporting from Liga.net.
Lyppa also said that the tariff hike would not cover the full loss of income from the deal's expiry, and that the company was taking all possible measures to reduce its costs.
Many European countries have already sharply decreased their use of Russian gas following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, but many countries, including Slovakia, Hungary, and Austria, still rely on Russian gas.
We are the news team of the Kyiv Independent. We are here to make sure our readers get quick, essential updates about the events in Ukraine. Feel free to contact us via email with feedback and news alerts.
Sonya Bandouil
