This week, the world watched in anticipation for Russia’s Victory Day parade after President Volodymyr Zelensky commented that he could not guarantee the safety of those attending. Meanwhile, the European Union moves one step forward to banning Russian gas from the European continent. It is also revealed this week that U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has fallen out of step with the White House.
"(Russian) President (Vladimir) Putin... doesn't want to have a ceasefire agreement with Ukraine, but rather wants to meet on Thursday, in Turkey, to negotiate a possible end to the bloodbath. Ukraine should agree to this, immediately," U.S. President Donald Trump said.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio will travel to to Antalya, Turkey, for a NATO foreign ministers’ meeting from May 14–16, where he is expected to address the war in Ukraine and push for stronger Allied defense commitments.
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."
A view of the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine on June 15, 2023. (Olga Maltseva/AFP via Getty Images)
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said on April 18 that it had received a report that the training center of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant had been targeted by an "attempted drone attack," causing no casualties or damage.
The IAEA said its team heard an explosion at 10:35 a.m. local time on April 18, the same the Russian occupying forces at the power plant claimed there had been a drone attack.
This marks the third reported attack in the last weeks on the training facility, which is located just outside the perimeter of the plant, the IAEA said.
"The team was denied access to the training center just outside the ZNPP site perimeter to assess the incident," as the Russian occupying forces cited "security risks," the IAEA said.
The Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, the largest nuclear plant in Europe, has been under Russian occupation since March 2022. IAEA teams have been based at the facility on rotation since September 2022.
Russian troops have also used the plant as a platform to launch strikes at Nikopol, situated just across the Kakhovka Reservoir, and other Ukrainian settlements nearby.
If confirmed, the recent series of reported drone attacks is "an extremely worrying development," IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said.
The attacks pose a "real threat of a serious nuclear accident, which could have significant health and environmental consequences and benefit absolutely no one," Grossi said.
Ukrainian officials have not yet commented on the report.
IAEA teams have been based at the facility on rotation since September 2022. Russian authorities still deny IAEA inspectors full access to the plant.
Kateryna Denisova
