Political news from Kyiv region, government decisions and Ukraine politics
Trump's chief negotiators confirmed their arrival in Ukraine for early April, but no dates have been set yet. Zelenskyy explained the delay himself: the envoys don't want to leave the president.
The Disinformation Counteraction Center is registering a new phase of preparation of Russian society: following rhetoric about "protecting" fellow citizens, legislative formalization of the right to fight outside the Russian Federation against anyone, including Ukraine's allies.
# Public Rift Between Trump and Meloni Driven by Practical Concerns, Not Offense A public disagreement between Trump and Meloni emerged not from personal slights, but from a concrete strategic choice: Rome refused to support the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, which has already driven gas prices up 70 percent across Europe. For Italy, which depends more heavily on imported fuel than its neighbors, this is not a diplomatic dispute — it is a direct hit to household utility bills.
Tisa's Victory at Hungarian Elections Does Not Resolve Structural Problem: Far-Right Parties Growing Across Europe — and Most Oppose EU Expansion. Klimkin Believes Brussels Could Face Economic and Political Trap Simultaneously.
A Norwegian Army officer is suspected of using his official position to award a state contract to a company with which he had personal connections. The case concerns supplies under the Nansen program — Norway's largest aid package in history.
London and Paris are forming a "strictly defensive" mission to restore shipping in the Strait of Hormuz — separate from the American blockade and outside NATO as a structure.
Negotiations in Islamabad concluded without a breakthrough — now Turkey, Egypt and Pakistan are attempting to bring the parties back to the table while the ceasefire still holds.
Zelenskyy called the coincidence of Hungarian elections with Ukrainian Easter symbolic. Behind this symbolism lie concrete consequences: unblocking EU credits, repairs to the Druzhba pipeline, and a reset of relations between the two neighbors.
Russian attack destroyed the city's road infrastructure. The Office of the Prosecutor General confirmed casualties and damage to a civilian facility.
# European Commission Begins Talks with Hungary's New PM Before Swearing-In The European Commission launched negotiations with Hungary's newly elected prime minister before he took the oath of office. However, behind promises of a reset lies a tough agenda — anti-corruption reforms, unblocking aid to Ukraine, and €900 million in penalties.
On the eve of Zelensky's first visit to Berlin under the new government, Bündnis 90/The Greens faction deputy chair Agnieszka Brügger publicly accused Merz of repeating Scholz's tactics and giving Russia time.
Negotiations in Islamabad lasted 21 hours but stalled on one issue — for how many years Iran will not enrich uranium. The answer to this question will determine whether the region will have peace after April 21.
Bloomberg reveals the mechanics of power shifts in the Presidential Office: while Yermak controlled the official channel of communication with the US, Budanov built his own — and reported to Zelensky how allies actually assessed the previous negotiator.
On April 13, Zelensky announced the first operation of this war where infantry did not participate at all: enemy positions were taken by unmanned combat vehicles and drones, while occupiers surrendered to the machines. Behind the scenes—a systematic bet on robotization instead of mobilization.
On April 13, World Aquatics cancelled all restrictions for adult athletes from Russia and Belarus: they will now compete under their flag, with their national anthem and in national uniforms. The decision precedes the International Olympic Committee's position and paves the way for Los Angeles 2028.
# Hungarian Elections Give Brussels the Political Moment It Needed Hungarian elections have provided Brussels with the political opening it has been lacking: the president of the European Commission wants to replace unanimous decision-making in EU foreign policy with qualified majority voting — and now the most convenient argument against this has disappeared along with Orbán.
Hungarian opposition leader Péter Magyar has claimed that Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó is destroying documents. The allegation coincides with the minister's prolonged absence from public events.
While mass production of the Sapsan—the flagship of the state missile program—is being discussed behind the scenes as a candidate for freezing, the private Fire Point is completing certification of its own ballistic missile FP-7. This is not a competition of ambitions—it is a structural problem of the defense industry.
Peter Maggaro's party secured 53.6% of the vote in the April 12 elections. Berlin and Brussels had prepared for this scenario in advance — the technical work has already been completed.
After 21 hours of negotiations in Islamabad, the USA and Iran parted ways without a deal. Now mediators are trying to narrow the gap before the ceasefire expires — in parallel with the announced naval blockade.
Despite changes in its name and charter, the Estonian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate is effectively controlled by Russian citizen Metropolitan Eugene. The Security Police Board, in its annual report, directly called religion a Kremlin instrument.
Women without medical training have ended up in the military conscription registry due to glitches dating back to 2021 — and only now has it become clear that the system technically cannot remove this data without changing a Cabinet of Ministers resolution. The Defense Ministry's algorithm is a temporary patch for a structural problem.
On April 19, Ukraine returned 277 military personnel — 246 in a direct exchange and 31 severely wounded outside of it. Behind these figures lies three years of work by the UAE as the sole stable mediator between Moscow and Kyiv.
The Kremlin seized the initiative from Zelenskyy and presented an Easter ceasefire as its own decision. Ukraine agreed to mirror the move — but a year ago, the same scenario ended with nearly three thousand violations in 30 hours.
American intelligence has detected Beijing's preparations for new weapons shipments to Tehran — occurring amid ongoing negotiations where Washington is demanding Iran's disarmament.
Parallel communication channels with the Trump team, which Budanov bypassed Yermak with while still heading GUR, became one of the arguments in his favor at his appointment. After 100 days, it is evident that personnel logic and operational logic turned out to be different things.
Vox Harbor analyzed 628,000 Telegram messages and found a coordinated fear campaign aimed at deterring voters from voting against Orbán, whom Moscow openly supports.
During a visit to Budapest, the U.S. vice president avoided making direct attacks against Kyiv — even when Hungarian journalists directly pressed him to do so.
Mykolaiv region recorded 31 attacks on military conscription centers since 2022 — ranging from beatings to stab wounds. Against the national backdrop, this is not an exception but part of a trend: the number of incidents across Ukraine more than doubles every year.
# US Vice President Publicly Warns Iran Against Stalling Nuclear Negotiations While Pursuing Separate Diplomatic Track in South Asia The US Vice President publicly cautioned Iran against attempting to delay nuclear negotiations while simultaneously pursuing a separate diplomatic initiative in South Asia.