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.
The flags of the European Union and Ukraine outside the EU Parliament building in Brussels, Belgium, on Feb. 24, 2023. Photo for illustrative purposes. (Ksenia Kuleshova / Bloomberg via Getty Images)
The EU will allocate 900 million euros ($1 billion) from profits generated by frozen Russian assets to fund weapons and ammunition for Ukraine, EU Deputy Secretary General for Peace, Security and Defense Charles Fries said on May 12.
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.
Speaking at the second EU-Ukraine Defense Industries Forum, Fries said contracts signed last week in Lviv will channel the funds into modern sectors of Ukraine's defense industry, including drone and missile production.
On May 9, EU Foreign Affairs Chief Kaja Kallas and foreign ministers signed a landmark agreement in Lviv to transfer 1 billion euros ($1.1 billion) in profits from frozen Russian assets to Ukraine.
That agreement focuses on joint production and procurement of military equipment.
Since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in 2022, Western countries have frozen approximately $300 billion in Russian sovereign assets.
In October 2024, the Group of Seven (G7) approved nearly $50 billion in loans for Ukraine to be repaid from the proceeds of those frozen funds.
Kyiv has consistently urged allies, particularly the U.S. Treasury, to formalize mechanisms for using frozen Russian assets to finance defense and reconstruction.
Western governments have primarily relied on reallocating interest income generated by the frozen funds to support Kyiv.
The Kremlin has warned of retaliation if Russian assets are confiscated outright for Ukraine's benefit. In early 2024, Moscow amended its legislation to allow counter-seizure of Western-owned property in response to asset seizures abroad.
Tim Zadorozhnyy is a news editor at The Kyiv Independent. Based in Warsaw, he is pursuing studies in International Relations, focusing on European Studies. Tim began his career at a local television channel in Odesa. After moving to Warsaw, he joined the Belarusian opposition media outlet NEXTA, starting as a news anchor and later advancing to the position of managing editor.
Anna Fratsyvir
