Shoppers pay at the cash registers in a Zara store, that belongs to the Spanish Inditex group, during brand store reopening in the Respublika Park shopping mall on April 3, 2024 in Kyiv, Ukraine. Since Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, the Spanish multinational clothing company suspended its operations in Ukraine. (Yurii Stefanyak/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images)
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Zara, Bershka, Pull&Bear, and other foreign brands reopened some of their stores in Kyiv on April 3.
Shoppers wait in line for fitting rooms in a Zara store, that belongs to the Spanish Inditex group, during brand store reopening in the Respublika Park shopping mall on April 3, 2024 in Kyiv, Ukraine. Since Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, the Spanish multinational clothing company suspended its operations in Ukraine. (Yurii Stefanyak/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images)
Ukraine's Foreign Ministry confirmed in March that Inditex, a Spanish-owned multinational company that owns Zara and other brands, would gradually resume operations in Ukraine.
Approximately 20 physical stores will reopen in Kyiv.
Many foreign brands suspended their business in Ukraine following the outbreak of the full-scale war in 2022.
Yellow and blue shirts hang on hangers on a rack in a Zara store, that belongs to the Spanish Inditex group, during brand store reopening in the Respublika Park shopping mall on April 3, 2024 in Kyiv, Ukraine. Since Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, the Spanish multinational clothing company suspended its operations in Ukraine. (Yurii Stefanyak/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images)
McDonald's, H&M, the Danish jeweler Pandora, and French cosmetics company Yves Rocher are among some of the major foreign retailers that have reopened in Ukraine since then.
The foreign ministry said in a statement in March that it would continue to work on restoring international business in Ukraine, bringing in new companies in order to "deepen the country's integration into the global economy."
The U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM) has reversed its decision to terminate grant funding for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) for the fiscal year 2025, RFE/RL reported on March 26.
"I can't imagine any situation in which Germany would not be participating in whatever would be the result of negotiations of a ceasefire or even a peace," German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said on March 27.
"This may only at first glance surprise some. It is a big mistake to believe that this is some extravagant talks by the new U.S. administration," Russian President Vladimir Putin said.
"The city of Kherson is a civilian city, it is not a battlefield. I believe that there should be a reaction from the United States, in actions," President Volodymyr Zelensky said on March 27.
Kyiv believes that the Black Sea ceasefire applies to civilian shipping and Ukrainian ports, and does not apply to Russian warships, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Heorhii Tykhyi said.
"The decisions in our local life won't be made by the citizens of the aggressor states, but we'll decide by ourselves," Estonian Prime Minister Kristen Michal said after the March 26 vote.
"I can confirm that since this date, March 25... There have been no attacks on energy objects. Neither Russian attacks on our energy objects, or our attacks on Russian energy objects," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Heorhii Tykhyi told the Kyiv Independent at a press briefing.
In the past seven and a half months, Russian losses have included 22,200 killed in action and 31,800 wounded. Ukrainian forces have also captured more than 940 Russian soldiers.
Several European countries agreed to send troops to Ukraine as part of a "reassurance force" in case of the ceasefire with Russia, French President Emmanuel Macron announced on March 27 at a summit of European leaders in Paris, which was also attended by Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky.
"We must look at the situation with our eyes wide open. (Russian President Vladimir) Putin is preparing a new offensive, particularly in Sumy and Kharkiv oblasts," President Volodymyr Zelensky said.
The summit, co-led by French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, follows Starmer's March 2 proposal to form a "coalition of the willing" to support Ukraine.
Pyongyang has also reportedly supplied Moscow with more short-range ballistic missiles, 170 mm self-propelled howitzers, and 240 mm multiple rocket launchers.
"We have passed along a completed document for the economic partnership (that) is currently being reviewed by Ukrainians, and we hope to go to full discussions and perhaps even get signatures next week," U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said.
Elsa Court
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