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.
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.
U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping meet in San Francisco on the sidelines of the APEC forum on Nov. 15, 2023. (President Biden / X)
U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping held talks on Nov. 15 on the sidelines of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in San Francisco, the White House reported.
The meeting marks the leaders' first conversation in over a year.
Biden and Xi participated in expanded bilateral talks on Nov. 15 that lasted about two hours, then departed for a smaller, closed-door working lunch.
Biden attended the smaller session with Secretary of State Antony Blinken and National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, while Xi was accompanied by Foreign Affairs Minister Wang Yi and Chinese Communist Party Chief Cai Qi.
The two leaders issued remarks before the talks in a joint press conference.
"We have to ensure that competition does not veer into conflict. And we also have to manage it responsibly — that competition," Biden said.
Xi called the U.S.-China relationship "the most important bilateral relationship in the world."
"For two large countries like China and the United States, turning their back on each other is not an option," Xi said.
Ahead of the Nov. 15 talks, U.S. officials reported that Biden and Xi planned to discuss Russia's war in Ukraine.
China remains a crucial strategic ally to Russia and continues to provide economic support to Moscow, helping Russia fund its war despite the effects of Western sanctions. China also wields significant leverage over North Korea, which currently supplies weapons to Russia.
Biden said after the meeting that he and Xi "made real progress."
"I value the conversation I had today with President Xi because I think it's paramount that we understand each other clearly, leader to leader," Biden said on the social media platform X.
"There are critical global challenges that demand our joint leadership. And today, we made real progress."
Biden held a press conference on Nov. 15 following his meeting with Xi.
"I welcome the positive steps we've taken today," he told reporters.
Biden said the U.S. and China were "reassuming military-to-military direct contacts" and had agreed to partner on several key issues, including imports of narcotics and the AI industry.
While Biden said the two leaders discussed "Russia's brutal war of aggression against Ukraine," he did not share details of the conversation or report that any agreements had been reached.
Abbey Fenbert is a senior news editor at the Kyiv Independent. She is a freelance writer, editor, and playwright with an MFA from Boston University. Abbey served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Ukraine from 2008-2011.
Katie Marie Davies
