The Kremlin said the leaders held a detailed discussion about the Russian initiative and Erdogan expressed full support, reiterating Turkey’s readiness to provide a venue and assist in organizing the negotiations.
Erdogan told Macron that international cooperation is critical for initiating peace negotiations and the "sensitive implementation" of Ukraine’s recovery and reconstruction processes, the Turkish Presidency reported.
The assault began around 2 a.m. on May 11, with Russian forces deploying 108 Shahed-type attack drones and decoy UAVs from multiple directions, Ukraine’s Air Force said.
"Think of the hundreds of thousands of lives that will be saved as this never ending 'bloodbath' hopefully comes to an end... I will continue to work with both sides to make sure that it happens."
U.S. State Department Spokesperson Tammy Bruce called for "concrete proposals from both sides" in order for Washington to "move forward" in peace negotiations.
"If they speak to each other in Russian, he doesn't know what they are saying," one Western official told NBC News. Michael McFaul, former U.S. ambassador to Russia, called Witkoff's approach "a very bad idea."
Tougher sanctions "should be applied to (Russia's) banking and energy sectors, targeting fossil fuels, oil, and the shadow fleet," the leaders of Ukraine, the U.K., France, Germany, and Poland said in a joint statement.
The remnants of a destroyed Russian Shahed drone at an exhibition in Kyiv, Ukraine, on May 12, 2023. (Oleksii Samsonov /Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images)
Ukraine shot down eight Shahed-type attack drones launched by Russia overnight on Jan. 29, the Air Force said in its morning update.
The drones were launched from Primorsko-Akhtarsk in southern Russia, off the coast of the Azov Sea. Russian forces also used one Iskander-M ballistic missile launched from the Voronezh region of Russia, and three S-300 anti-aircraft missiles launched from within Ukraine's temporarily occupied territories to target Donetsk Oblast.
Russian forces mainly targeted Mykolaiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Khmelnytskyi, and Rivne oblasts in the latest attack.
Mobile fire groups of the Ukrainian Air Force were involved in repelling the air attack.
Drone attacks are a near daily occurrence in Ukraine, affecting various regions across the country. Ukrainian authorities have continuously expected Russian attacks over the course of the winter, with Moscow focusing on Ukraine's energy infrastructure and other civilian sites.
Dmytro Basmat is a senior news editor for The Kyiv Independent. He previously worked in Canadian politics as a communications lead and spokesperson for a national political party, and as a communications assistant for a Canadian Member of Parliament. Basmat has a Master's degree in Political Management from Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada, and a Bachelor of Arts in Politics and Governance from Toronto Metropolitan University.
The Kyiv Independent news desk
