The comments came after Trump urged Ukraine to agree to direct negotiations with Putin, who has invited Kyiv to peace talks in Istanbul on May 15, without first agreeing to halt military operations.
A Russian drone hit a civilian freight train in Donetsk Oblast on May 12 and injured its driver, Ukrainian Railways said amid Kyiv's calls for a ceasefire.
Moscow and Hanoi agreed to negotiate and sign agreements to construct nuclear power plants in Vietnam, the two countries said in a joint statement on May 11.
The sanctions appear to be in response to Russia's rejection of a 30-day ceasefire that the U.K., alongside Ukraine, France, Germany, and Poland, demanded during a visit to Kyiv on May 10.
"We now know for sure that the great fire of the Marywilska shopping centre in Warsaw was caused by arson ordered by the Russian special services," Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on X. "Some of the perpetrators have already been detained, all the others are identified and searched for."
The publications' latest report covers the period of February 24, 2022 to May 8, 2025. Since it was last updated at the end of April, 2,857 additional Russian military personnel have been confirmed killed.
Hungary cancelled a meeting planned for May 12 with a Ukrainian delegation on the rights of national minorities, Hungary's Deputy Foreign Minister said on May 11, amid a deepening spying scandal between the two countries.
Three were injured in Russia's Kursk Oblast when the town of Rylsk was allegedly struck by a missile attack on May 11, local governor Alexander Khinshtein claimed.
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.
German Finance Minister Christian Lindner, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Chairman of the Bundespressekonferenz Tim Szent-Ivanyi, German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius and German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser attend a press conference in Berlin, Germany on June 14, 2023. (Photo by Emmanuele Contini/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
The German government has not yet budgeted enough funds to be able to deliver enough military aid to Ukraine in 2024, German media outlet Bild reported on Oct. 22, citing a confidential Defense Ministry memo.
The 2024 budget will be approved in mid-November, but the Defense Ministry is concerned that the current draft budget leaves only 120 million euros ($127.2 million) for new military support to Ukraine next year once existing commitments are subtracted.
While the Finance Ministry has earmarked four billion euros ($4.2 billion) for military support to Ukraine next year, the Defense Ministry has calculated that 3.1 billion euros ($3.3 billion) will go to projects that have already been announced, according to Bild.
Another 770 million euros ($816 million) will go to the Foreign Ministry's aid programs, leaving just 120 million for new military aid support to Ukraine in 2024.
However, the Defense Ministry expects to need billions more to meet Ukraine's needs for military support, Bild reported.
This includes 880 million euros ($932 million) for air defense, 675 million ($715 million) for armored combat vehicles, 390 million ($413 million) for combat engineering, 935 million ($990 million) for protective equipment, and 2.34 billion ($2.48 billion) for repairs, spare parts, and logistics.
"Ukraine must be able to rely on Germany’s promises,” Andreas Schwarz, the MP responsible for the defense budget in the German parliament's budget committee, told Bild.
"It must not be the case that we run out of financial steam when it comes to aid to Ukraine next year," Schwarz said.
Negotiations to finalize the budget are currently ongoing. German Finance Minister Christian Lindner said in August that Germany plans to provide Ukraine with 5 billion euros ($5.3 billion) in annual military aid until 2027.
Germany is the world's largest provider of military aid to Ukraine after the United States.
Martin Fornusek
