President of Russia Vladimir Putin approved budget plans, raising military spending to record highs in 2025, as Moscow seeks to dominate. war in Ukraine.
About 32.5% of the budget published on the government’s website on Sunday has been allocated to national defense, 13.5 billion. rubles (more than 145 billion dollars), up from 28.3% this year.
Lawmakers in both houses of the Russian Parliament, the State Duma and the Federation Council, have already approved the plans in the past 10 days.
Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine since February 2022 is Europe’s biggest conflict since World War II and has exhausted the resources of both sides. Kyiv is receiving billions of dollars in aid from its Western allies, but Russian forces are larger and better equipped, and in recent months the Russian military has been gradually pushing back Ukrainian troops in eastern areas.
New EU leaders in Kiev pledge continued support to Ukraine
New European Council President Antonio Costa and EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas arrived in Kiev on Sunday, with a strong pro-Ukraine message to mark their first day in office. Their visit comes as doubts deepen What Kyiv can expect From a new US administration headed by Donald Trump.
“Since the first day of the war, the EU has been on Ukraine’s side,” Costa posted Xalong with a photo of him, Kallas and Marta Kos, head of EU dissemination. “From the first day of our mandate, we are reaffirming our continued support for the Ukrainian people.”
In a press conference with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Costa confirmed the EU’s latest commitment to help Ukraine continue the war, including 4.2 billion euros ($4.4 billion) in aid to Ukraine’s budget and 1.5 billion euros ($1.6 billion) in monthly aid. Profits from Russia’s frozen assets.
Asked whether the EU would step up funding if Trump withdrew aid, Costa said the bloc would “stand by Ukraine” as long as needed.
Zelenskyy said future ceasefire negotiations with Russia should include representatives from the EU and NATO, as Ukraine sees its future security in both alliances. However, he said he did not see where such negotiations would lead, adding that Ukraine would “never legally accept the occupation of our land by the Russian Federation.”
He called on the Biden administration to use the remaining two months in office “to influence those few European skeptics about our future. I don’t see anything, I personally don’t see any danger, and most NATO countries don’t see any danger from the recommendation of a positive future for Ukraine as a member of NATO ».
Zelenskyy said on Friday that the NATO membership bid would end the “hot stage of the war” on territory under Kiev’s control.
3 killed in Ukraine and a child killed in a drone attack in Russia
On the ground in Ukraine, three people were killed in the southern city of Kherson when a minibus was hit by a Russian drone on Sunday morning, regional governor Oleksandr Prokudin said. Seven others were injured in the attack.
Meanwhile, the number of injured in Saturday’s missile attack Dnipro In central Ukraine, the death toll rose to 24, with seven in critical condition, Dnipropetrovsk Governor Serhiy Lysak said. Four people died in the attack.
Moscow had sent 78 drones to Ukraine as of Sunday, Ukrainian officials said. According to the Ukrainian air force, 32 drones were destroyed and another 45 drones were lost, possibly due to electronic jamming.
In Russia, a Ukrainian drone attack killed a child in the Bryansk region on the border with Ukraine, regional governor Alexander Bogomaz reported.
The Russian Defense Ministry said 29 Ukrainian drones were shot down Sunday night in four regions of western Russia: 20 in the Bryansk region, seven in the Kaluga region and one each in the Smolensk and Kursk regions.
