Washington and its partners are considering additional sanctions if the parties do not observe a ceasefire, with political and technical negotiations between Europe and the U.S. intensifying since last week, Reuters' source said.
The Kyiv Independent’s contributor Ignatius Ivlev-Yorke spent a day with a mobile team from the State Emergency Service in Nikopol in the south of Ukraine as they responded to relentless drone, artillery, and mortar strikes from Russian forces just across the Dnipro River. Nikopol is located across from the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in the city of Enerhodar.
Peter Szijjarto's announcement came after Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) allegedly dismantled a Hungarian military intelligence network operating in Zakarpattia Oblast.
Moscow and Washington discuss the potential resumption of Russian gas supplies to Europe, among other issues related to the peaceful settlement of Russia's war in Ukraine, Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov confirmed to the Russian state-run Interfax news agency.
"This is a historic decision, as weapons for Ukraine will be purchased at the expense of the proceeds from frozen Russian assets through the European Peace Fund," Denys Shmyhal said.
The approval marks a key step in international efforts to hold Moscow accountable for what is considered the gravest violation of international law committed against Ukraine.
Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov speaks during a discussion about the legacy of Anatoly Dobrynin at the Woodrow Wilson Institute on November 18, 2019 in Washington, DC. Dobrynin was the Soviet Ambassador to the United States during the terms of six U.S. presidents, from 1962 to 1986. (Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
Russia’s Ambassador to the United States, Anatoly Antonov, returned to Moscow on Oct. 5 as his term in Washington concluded, according to state media reports.
Antonov's departure marks the end of his assignment during a period of increasingly hostile relations between the two nations, the worst in decades.
The Russian Foreign Ministry confirmed the move, with state news agency TASS citing Antonov's return. The 69-year-old diplomat, known for his hardline stance, has been Russia’s envoy to Washington since 2017. Throughout his tenure, Antonov was seen as a tough negotiator, particularly on military and strategic issues. There has been no announcement regarding his successor, Reuters reports.
Antonov’s support for President Vladimir Putin’s policies has been steadfast, aligning with Russia’s framing of the full-scale invasion as a "special military operation" rather than a war, as described by Kyiv and its Western allies.
During his career, Antonov served as deputy defense minister during Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014 and was subject to European sanctions after being appointed to Washington.
Known for his skill as an arms control negotiator, he previously led Russian delegations to key international talks. Despite the current tensions, Antonov expressed openness to working with Washington on arms control in an August interview with TASS. "My tactics for conducting negotiations are very simple: you and I need to take a piece of paper and write down what you want and what I want," he said, advocating for finding common ground, even on minimal terms.
Olena Goncharova is the Head of North America desk at The Kyiv Independent, where she has previously worked as a development manager and Canadian correspondent. She first joined the Kyiv Post, Ukraine's oldest English-language newspaper, as a staff writer in January 2012 and became the newspaper’s Canadian correspondent in June 2018. She is based in Edmonton, Alberta. Olena has a master’s degree in publishing and editing from the Institute of Journalism in Taras Shevchenko National University in Kyiv. Olena was a 2016 Alfred Friendly Press Partners fellow who worked for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette for six months. The program is administered by the University of Missouri School of Journalism in Columbia.
Asami Terajima
