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.
U.S. National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby speaks during the daily press briefing at the White House on Oct. 11, 2023. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
The White House hopes that Congress will pass a funding request containing $61 billion for Ukraine in January to maintain support for Kyiv amid Russia's invasion, U.S. National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said on Dec. 20.
U.S. Senate leaders recently said that the bill would not be approved before the end of the year, raising concerns about crucial American military support for Ukraine.
Speaking at an informal press briefing aboard Air Force One, Kirby urged lawmakers to pass the additional funding so that the aid can continue.
"We've got one more package that we can do before the end of the month. And as you know, it takes some days, sometimes weeks, for some of that material to get to Ukraine," Kirby said.
"So it's really important that in January, we can move forward with some kind of supplemental funding for them (Ukraine) because the fighting is not gonna stop," the official noted, drawing attention to an increased Russian activity near Avdiivka.
Kirby added that Russian attacks around the front-line town may intensify once the ground freezes.
The funding request failed to pass a vote in the Senate as Republicans demanded the inclusion of stricter security measures on the U.S.-Mexico border.
"Our negotiators are going to be working very, very diligently over the December and January break period, and our goal is to get something done as soon as we get back," Democratic Party Senate leader Chuck Schumer said earlier.
"There has been some progress made, I won't get ahead of it," Kirby commented on the ongoing negotiations.
It is unclear if any deal reached by the Senate will be supported by the Republican-controlled House, where a significant number of lawmakers oppose additional funding to Ukraine.
Martin Fornusek is a news editor at the Kyiv Independent. He has previously worked as a news content editor at the media company Newsmatics and is a contributor to Euromaidan Press. He was also volunteering as an editor and translator at the Czech-language version of Ukraïner. Martin studied at Masaryk University in Brno, Czechia, holding a bachelor's degree in security studies and history and a master's degree in conflict and democracy studies.
Oleksiy Sorokin
