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.
Russia attacked Ukraine with drones and guided bombs during the night, targeting multiple regions after the May 12 deadline for an unconditional ceasefire expired.
"Only member states can take out loans within the 150 billion euros instrument, but they can use these funds for joint procurement with Ukraine," EU Defense Commissioner Andrius Kubilius said.
"We agreed to pursue ambitious measures to reduce Russia's ability to wage war by limiting Kremlin revenues, disrupting the shadow fleet, tightening the Oil Price Cap, and reducing our remaining imports of Russian energy."
Zelensky on May 12 removed Lieutenant General Ivan Havryliuk from the Headquarters of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, the top command and control body for all branches of Ukraine's defense apparatus.
Ukraine remains the most mined country in the world. Nearly one-third of Ukraine's territory, approximately 174,000 square kilometers, had been mined since Russia began its full-scale invasion of the country in February 2022.
The phone call comes as Moscow once again rejected a 30-day ceasefire, with Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Maria Zakharova claiming that a ceasefire would give "Kyiv a break to restore its military potential and continue its confrontation with Russia."
Flight MH17 departed from Amsterdam Schiphol Airport en-route to Kuala Lumpur International Airport on July 17, 2014. Three hours into the flight, the Boeing-777 was shot down by Russian proxy forces using a Buk surface-to-air missile above Ukraine’s Donetsk Oblast.
Interior Minister Denys Monastyrskyi was killed in a helicopter crash in Brovary, Kyiv Oblast, on Jan. 18, 2022. (Interior Ministry)
Editor's Note: This story is being updated as new details of the crash emerge.
The crash of a State Emergency Service helicopter in Brovary, a city just east of Kyiv, killed Interior Minister Denys Monastyrsky, his deputy, Yevhen Yenin, and the ministry's secretary Yuriy Lubkovych, as well as two children, National Police Chief Ihor Klymenko said in a Facebook statement on Jan. 18.
According to the State Emergency Service, 17 people, including four children, were killed in the crash.
Nine of the victims were on board the helicopter. According to the State Emergency Service, they included six employees of the Interior Ministry, including its top leadership, as well as three emergency service personnel.
The State Emergency Service said that 25 people were injured, including 11 children.
The helicopter crashed next to a kindergarten and started a fire on the morning of Jan. 18, according to Kuleba.
Yuriy Ihnat, the spokesman of Ukraine's Air Force, said on television that it was too early to determine the cause of the crash, adding that the incident has to be investigated.
According to Ihnat, the crashed helicopter was the Aérospatiale AS.332 Super Puma, provided by France.
Military stand at the site of a deadly helicopter crash near a kindergarten in Brovary, Kyiv Oblast, on Jan. 18, 2023. (Photo by Sergei Supinsky/AFP via Getty Images)
Firefighters work near the site of a deadly helicopter crash near a kindergarten in Brovary, Kyiv Oblast, on Jan. 18, 2023. (Photo by Sergei Supinsky/AFP via Getty Images)
Firefighters work at the site of a deadly helicopter crash in Brovary, Kyiv Oblast, on Jan. 18, 2023. (Photo by Aleksey Chumachenko/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
A woman reacts near the site of a deadly helicopter crash near a kindergarten in Brovary, Kyiv Oblast, on Jan. 18, 2023. (Photo by Sergei Supinsky/AFP via Getty Images)
People stand at the site of a deadly helicopter crash near a kindergarten in Brovary, Kyiv Oblast, on Jan. 18, 2023. (Photo by Sergei Supinsky/AFP via Getty Images)
Firefighters work at the site of a deadly helicopter crash in Brovary, Kyiv Oblast, on Jan. 18, 2023. (Photo by Danylo Antoniuk/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Kyrylo Tymoshenko, deputy head of the President's Office, said that the leadership of the Interior Ministry was on its way to a "hot spot" of Russia's war when it crashed in Brovary.
During a briefing at the scene of the crash, Tymoshenko said that some of the hospitalized victims were on life support. Surviving children have been evacuated from the building, while emergency services are working to see if anyone remains trapped in the rubble. He said that given the morning hour, it's possible that the victims may include random pedestrians as well as parents taking their children to kindergarten.
President Volodymyr Zelensky expressed his condolences to the loved ones of the victims in a statement published on Telegram, calling the crash "a horrible tragedy."
He said that he had instructed the Security Service, the National Police, and other agencies to find out all the circumstances of what happened in Brovary.
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