Ukraine remains the most mined country in the world. Nearly one-third of Ukraine's territory, approximately 174,000 square kilometers, had been mined since Russia began its full-scale invasion of the country in February 2022.
The phone call comes as Moscow once again rejected a 30-day ceasefire, with Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Maria Zakharova claiming that a ceasefire would give "Kyiv a break to restore its military potential and continue its confrontation with Russia."
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.
President Volodymyr Zelensky attends the 'Ukraine. Year 2024' forum on Feb. 25, 2024 in Kyiv, Ukraine. (Oleksandr Gusev/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images)
Ukraine has "a chance at victory" against Russia's full-scale war if it receives the $61 billion in military aid recently passed by the United States House of Representatives, President Volodymyr Zelensky said in an interview with NBC News on April 21.
"I think this support will really strengthen the armed forces, I pray, and we will have a chance at victory if Ukraine really gets the weapons system, which we need so much, which thousands of soldiers need so much," Zelensky said.
The Senate is expected to advance the bill in the coming days, whereupon U.S. President Joe Biden will sign it into law.
Zelensky thanked U.S. legislators for approving the aid bill and urged the U.S. to deliver the weapons as quickly as possible.
"Then we want to help get things as fast as possible so that we get some tangible assistance for the soldiers on the frontline as soon as possible — not in another six months — so that they would be able to move ahead," Zelensky said.
The Ukrainian military's top priorities are long-range weapons and air defense systems, Zelensky told NBC.
"We need long-range weapons to not lose people on the front line because we have, we have casualties because we cannot reach that far. Our weapons are not that long-range," he said.
According to Zelensky, Ukraine's ability to retake the initiative from Russia depends on how fast it can get the new U.S. weapons on the ground.
"Now we have the chance to stabilize the situation and to overtake the initiative, and that’s why we need to actually have the weapons systems," he said.
"Giving the U.S. a specific timeline of the war, well it depends how soon they get this aid."
We are the news team of the Kyiv Independent. We are here to make sure our readers get quick, essential updates about the events in Ukraine. Feel free to contact us via email with feedback and news alerts.
Dmytro Basmat
