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.
"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.
Ukrainian flag waves during a joint military exercise Rapid Trident 2019 at the International Center for Peacekeeping and Security of the National Academy of Land Forces near Lviv. (Mykola Tys/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
Ukraine's Foreign Ministry said on Aug. 8 it regretted the decision of Niger's authorities to break off diplomatic relations and rejected any accusations against Kyiv.
The West African nation of Niger cut ties with Ukraine on Aug. 6, two days after neighboring Mali made a similar announcement.
Mali broke diplomatic ties with Ukraine after it accused the country of backing Tuareg-led rebels that inflicted serious losses on Russian Wagner Group mercenaries and Malian soldiers in recent clashes.
"The accusations against Ukraine mentioned in the statement of the representative of the government of this country (Niger) do not withstand any criticism, are groundless and untrue," the ministry's statement read.
The Foreign Ministry also rejected any accusations of Ukraine's alleged "support for international terrorism, violation of the United Nations Charter, and international law."
Such a decision is a gesture of "solidarity" with those who have chosen to be closer to Russia, which has been waging a full-scale war against Ukraine for more than two years, the ministry said.
The ministry expressed regret that Niger announced the severance of diplomatic relations without investigating the incident in Mali and providing any evidence referring to the reasons for such a move.
Ukraine is determined to continue developing mutually beneficial relations with all African states, the statement read.
The statement was published as Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba continues his African tour, aiming to strengthen ties with African countries. Kuleba has already visited Malawi, Zambia, and Mauritius.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said in December 2023 that developing ties with African countries is one of Ukraine's foreign policy priorities for 2024.
Unlike Kyiv, Moscow has long nurtured good relations with the governments on the African continent.
Russia's illicit activities and ties to authoritarian regimes in Africa have been under the public eye for years. Russian mercenaries on the continent, like the Wagner Group, whose operations help to fill Moscow's coffers, have been repeatedly accused of human rights abuses against local populations.
Kateryna Hodunova
