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.
"Russia is ready for negotiations without any preconditions," Putin claimed in an address marking the end of the three-day Victory Day ceasefire. He invited Ukraine to begin talks in Istanbul on May 15.
U.S. President Joe Biden gives a foreign policy address at the White House as he begins his last week as president of the United States. (Screenshot / White House)
Russian President Vladimir Putin has failed to meet any of his strategic objectives in Ukraine, U.S. President Joe Biden said at a foreign policy address on Jan. 13.
Biden's remarks come as his term as president comes to an end and Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine nears its third year.
Biden reflected on his foreign policy record, including his role in Ukraine's fight against Russia, one week before U.S. President-elect Donald Trump is set to take office on Jan. 20. The president defending his administration's policies and said they prevented Putin from reaching his goals.
"When Putin invaded Ukraine, he thought he'd conquer Kyiv in a matter of days," Biden said.
"The truth is, since that war began I'm the only one that stood in the center of Kyiv, not him, Putin never has."
Biden visited Kyiv in February 2023, becoming the only U.S. commander-in-chief to visit a war zone not controlled by U.S. forces.
"Putin has failed to achieve any of his strategic objectives," Biden said.
"He has failed thus far to subjugate Ukraine, failed to break the unity of NATO, and failed to make large territorial gains. There is more to do, we can't walk away."
Biden praised Washington's coalition-building and readiness to provide military aid, saying the U.S. brought together 50 nations to stand with Ukraine and delivered "massive numbers of munitions" and other crucial assistance to Kyiv.
The address also touched on the effectiveness of U.S. sanctions in weakening Russia's economy.
The U.S. has "enacted relentless unprecedented sanctions to keep Ukraine in the fight ... Russia is struggling to replace what they are losing on the battlefield in terms of military equipment and fighters and the ruble is under enormous pressure," Biden said.
Biden echoed earlier remarks by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who said on Jan. 12 that the White House was preparing a strong Ukraine policy foundation to hand off to the incoming Trump administration.
"(W)e laid the foundation for the next administration so they can protect the bright future of the Ukrainian people," Biden said.
Trump has previously criticized U.S. military support for Ukraine and promised to negotiate an end to the war. He is reportedly in the process of planning an in-person meeting with Putin, set to take place at an unspecified time after his inauguration.
Biden has urged the U.S. congress to continue sending aid to Ukraine even if Trump is opposed to further assistance. In a speech on Jan. 10, Biden said he did everything he could to help Ukraine during his time in office.
Volodymyr Ivanyshyn is a news editor for The Kyiv Independent. He is pursuing an Honors Bachelor of Arts at the University of Toronto, majoring in political science with a minor in anthropology and human geography. Volodymyr holds a Certificate in Business Fundamentals from Rotman Commerce at the University of Toronto. He previously completed an internship with The Kyiv Independent.
Tim Zadorozhnyy
