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.
A welcome sign of Russia's Kursk Oblast in an undated photo. (Olga Maltseva/AFP via Getty Images)
U.S. officials told Bloomberg on Dec. 27 that they believe Ukraine may only have a few months left in its incursion into Kursk Oblast until Ukraine's military is forced to retreat from the region or risk being encircled by Russian forces.
Speaking on the condition of anonymity, two U.S. officials told Bloomberg that it was their hope President Volodymyr Zelensky will retreat from Kursk Oblast in order to avoid suffering high casualties, amid an ongoing Russian offensive to retake the territory.
Ukraine first gained a foothold in Kursk Oblast during a surprise incursion into the Russian region in early August. Since then, Russia has launched extensive counterattacks in an effort to take back the region.
Reuters reported on Nov. 23, citing a source in Ukraine's General Staff, that Ukraine has lost over 40 per cent of the territory it previously gained in Russia's Kursk Oblast due to the counterattacks.
Despite territorial losses, one U.S. official told Bloomberg that Ukraine has managed to hold onto the territory longer than expected amid President Joe Biden's approval for Kyiv to use fire long-range missiles into Russia. Another official told Bloomberg they believed the intention was never to hold on to Kursk for the long-term but to provide shock at Ukraine's ability to conduct the incursion.
Zelensky said in September that Ukraine is planning to "indefinitely" hold the seized territories of Russia's Kursk Oblast as it tries to force Russian President Vladimir Putin to the negotiating table.
In addition to the nearly 60,000 Russian army personnel are currently stationed in Kursk Oblast, approximately 12,000 North Korean soldier have begun fighting alongside Russian troops in the region.
Both Russian and North Korean troops have sustained heavy casualties in the offensive. Zelensky said on Dec. 23 that over 3,000 North Korean soldiers have been killed or wounded thus far.
Ukrainian officials have previously said that they intend to use Ukraine's incursion into Kursk as leverage for possible peace negotiations following the inauguration of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump.
Trump has pledged to get the U.S. "out" of Russia's war and negotiate a quick peace deal, with Ukrainian officials urging the incoming president to take a "peace through strength" approach when dealing with negotiations.
Dmytro Basmat is a senior news editor for The Kyiv Independent. He previously worked in Canadian politics as a communications lead and spokesperson for a national political party, and as a communications assistant for a Canadian Member of Parliament. Basmat has a Master's degree in Political Management from Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada, and a Bachelor of Arts in Politics and Governance from Toronto Metropolitan University.
Tim Zadorozhnyy
