In an interview with French broadcaster TF1 on May 13, Macron discussed new Russia sanctions and stationing French nuclear weapons in other European countries as a deterrent against Russia.
Performing their song "Bird of Pray," Ukrainian band Ziferblat passed the Eurovision semi-finals on May 13, qualifying Ukraine for the grand final on May 17.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov confirmed that a Russian delegation will be in Istanbul on May 15 for direct peace talks with Ukraine. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Putin’s foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov will likely represent Russia.
The move follows Ukraine's ratification of the minerals agreement, deepening U.S.-Ukraine economic ties and signaling expanded U.S. involvement in Ukraine's long-term recovery.
"Ukraine has initiated a coordinated campaign to vilify Hungary in order to undermine our initiative to hold a poll on (Kyiv's) EU membership," Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz warned that further concessions from Ukraine during negotiations would be unreasonable if Russia continues to attack civilian targets.
U.S. President Donald Trump's special envoys, Steve Witkoff and Keith Kellogg, will travel to Istanbul for possible peace talks between Ukraine and Russia, Reuters reported on May 13, citing three undisclosed sources.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said he will meet with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara, but said both leaders are ready to fly to Istanbul if Russian President Vladimir Putin chooses to attend the talks there.
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock talks with the media prior to the EU-Ukraine Foreign Minister's meeting in Kyiv on Oct. 2, 2023. (Sergei Supinsky/AFP via Getty Images)
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock hinted on Nov. 2 that Ukraine may receive a positive signal on EU accession talks in December, European Pravda reported.
"We want to see Ukraine as a member of our Union. And I am convinced that the European Council will give a signal this December," Baerbock said at a press conference on EU enlargement in Berlin.
The European Commission is expected to issue its evaluation of Ukraine's progress toward membership on Nov. 8, with several media reports indicating that the assessment will be positive.
The actual launch of the accession talks must be then approved by EU leaders, presumably during a summit in December. Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo also commended Ukraine's progress and said that the negotiations could start by the last month of 2023.
The head of German diplomacy acknowledged the effort required by candidate countries on their part toward integration, especially in the case of Ukraine facing a full-scale Russian invasion.
"That is why it is so important to say... that we will accompany you on this path financially, structurally, materially," Baerbock assured Ukrainian partners.
According to the German minister, the European bloc should consider granting certain benefits to candidate countries, for example, in terms of research funding or by simplifying visa procedures.
"We have to ask ourselves how we can organize the accession process in such a way that whole generations do not spend their lives in the EU waiting room," she said.
Ukraine officially applied for EU membership in late February 2022 and was granted candidate status in June last year. The country was provided with seven criteria it should fulfill in order to initiate the talks.
Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration Olha Stefanishyna said in September that Ukraine had already "fulfilled the EU recommendations on the necessary legislative work in the judicial and media spheres."
Martin Fornusek is a news editor at the Kyiv Independent. He has previously worked as a news content editor at the media company Newsmatics and is a contributor to Euromaidan Press. He was also volunteering as an editor and translator at the Czech-language version of Ukraïner. Martin studied at Masaryk University in Brno, Czechia, holding a bachelor's degree in security studies and history and a master's degree in conflict and democracy studies.
Mark Leonard
