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.
More than 1,000 Russian government entities and 1,200 private companies are involved in the economy of occupied Mariupol, a major southeastern city occupied by Russia after it invaded Ukraine in 2022, according to a research paper published on May 14.
The measures target almost 200 ships of Russia's "shadow fleet," 30 companies involved in sanctions evasion, 75 sanctions on entities and individuals linked to the Russian military-industrial complex, and more.
The government has approved "reform roadmaps in the rule of law, public administration, and democratic institutions, as well as Ukraine’s negotiation position," Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said.
The statement did not name the ex-official by name, but details of the case indicate it relates to Oleh Hladkovsky, a former deputy secretary of Ukraine's top security body who has been wanted since mid-April.
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.
"Trump needs to believe that Putin actually lies," Zelensky told journalists in Kyiv. "And we should do our part. Sensibly approach this issue, to show that it’s not us that is slowing down the process."
Defense Minister Rustem Umerov during the presentation of State Rear Operator SE, the state agency that will deal with all non-lethal procurement, in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Dec. 18, 2023. (Eugen Kotenko/Future Publishing via Getty Images)
Ukraine will find a way to combat Russia's forces even if former President Donald Trump wins a second term and jeopardizes vital U.S. support for its defense, Defense Minister Rustem Umerov said on July 17.
In carefully framed remarks to an audience of U.S. policymakers and journalists, Umerov highlighted the diplomatic and military challenges facing Ukraine as Trump and Republican vice presidential candidate J. D. Vance gain momentum in the U.S. presidential race.
Vance, an Ohio senator, has worked in Congress to block U.S. military and financial aid to Ukraine, while Trump has promised to bring the war to an immediate end if he wins in November.
"We believe in U.S. leadership, and we believe America wants its partners and allies to be strong as well," Umerov said, according to the Associated Press as he was speaking remotely to government officials at the annual Aspen Security Forum in Colorado. "At this stage, we will focus on the battlefield," he noted. "Whatever the outcome" of the U.S. elections, "we will find solutions."
Umerov reportedly refrained from saying whether Ukraine would continue fighting or agree to a cease-fire deal that ceded territory to Russia if the U.S. were to withdraw its support.
Although other members of the military alliance of European and North American countries also provide arms, money, and other aid to Ukraine, U.S. support has been the most crucial since Russia launched its full-scale war in early 2022.
For now, Umerov emphasized that Ukraine — which has expanded its mobilization efforts to enlist more troops beyond the four million currently registered — would continue fighting to regain territory already lost to the Russians.
Olena Goncharova is the Head of North America desk at The Kyiv Independent, where she has previously worked as a development manager and Canadian correspondent. She first joined the Kyiv Post, Ukraine's oldest English-language newspaper, as a staff writer in January 2012 and became the newspaper’s Canadian correspondent in June 2018. She is based in Edmonton, Alberta. Olena has a master’s degree in publishing and editing from the Institute of Journalism in Taras Shevchenko National University in Kyiv. Olena was a 2016 Alfred Friendly Press Partners fellow who worked for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette for six months. The program is administered by the University of Missouri School of Journalism in Columbia.
Chris York
