Russia's Buryatia Republic declared a state of emergency on May 13 over massive forest fires that have engulfed multiple regions in the Russian Far East.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko's statement came as Strong Shield 5 exercises involving military personnel from other NATO countries began in Lithuania.
"Amendments to the Budget Code are needed to implement the provisions on funding the U.S.-Ukrainian Reconstruction Investment Fund," lawmaker Roksolana Pidlasa said.
During reconnaissance in an unspecified front-line sector, Special Operations Forces' operators detected Buk-M3 and Uragan-1 on combat duty, the unit said.
The suspect quit his job at the Rivne NPP before the full-scale war began. In the spring of 2025, a GRU liaison contacted him and offered cooperation in exchange for money.
President Volodymyr Zelensky would not meet any other Russian official apart from Russian President Vladimir Putin in Istanbul this week, presidential advisor Mykhailo Podolyak said on the Breakfast Show program on May 13.
U.S. and European officials held talks on May 12, during which Washington made it clear that it wanted to allow talks between Russia and Ukraine before increasing pressure on Vladimir Putin, sources told Bloomberg.
According to Steve Witkoff, the key topics in the peace discussions are the fate of the five partially or fully occupied Ukrainian regions, the status of the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, and Ukraine's access to the Dnipro River and the Black Sea.
Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa is reportedly offering a deal that would give U.S. companies access to Syria's natural wealth, reminiscent of the minerals agreement Washington recently signed with Kyiv.
US President Joe Biden speaks about the Senate passage of war aid for Ukraine in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington, DC, on Feb. 13, 2024. (Jim Watson / AFP via Getty Images)
Diplomats and world leaders, preparing for next week’s NATO summit, are privately voicing significant concerns about U.S. President Joe Biden’s age, health, and his ability to secure victory in the 2024 presidential election.
These foreign officials generally support Biden’s reelection and worry that Donald Trump’s return to office could harm the NATO alliance and undermine the war effort in Ukraine. However, they were disheartened by Biden’s recent debate performance and fear he may be too frail to defeat Trump and lead a global superpower, Politico reports.
Over the past month, the outlet spoke with 20 individuals connected to NATO or the alliance’s upcoming summit, revealing that many had already harbored quiet reservations about relying on Biden long before the debate. Biden must reassure his counterparts that he is not only ready for the challenge but also capable of navigating a political crisis to remain in the race.
"It doesn’t take a genius to see that the president is old," one official from a European NATO country was quoted as saying. "We’re not sure that, even if he wins, he can survive four years more."
Biden already faced a challenging task at the upcoming NATO summit, where he was set to address allies' concerns about America's commitment to Ukraine. However, his debate performance against Trump has shifted the focus of the summit to an evaluation of Biden’s physical and political resilience.
NATO allies are increasingly concerned about how much longer Biden can maintain American support for Europe’s defense, especially with the prospect of a close election against a former Republican president who is skeptical of aiding international partners.
"We’re having more conversations about our own defenses since it looks like Trump is coming back," said an official from a NATO country after the debate.
Additionally, some NATO allies are not fully satisfied with Biden’s leadership, criticizing his incremental approach to providing weapons and permitting Kyiv to strike inside Russia.
Biden’s stance on Russia’s war against Ukraine is well known, and he reiterated many of his points during the debate with Trump. He described Russian President Vladimir Putin as a war criminal who "wants to reestablish what was part of the Soviet Empire. Not just a piece, he wants all of Ukraine."
Ian Bremmer, president of the Eurasia Group, mentioned that he has personally heard concerns about Biden’s condition from numerous G7 and European leaders. "Ukraine is still the most important topic," he said, "but concerns about Biden and growing panic from Europeans about Trump are increasingly distracting the substantive conversations."
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.
Anna Belokur
