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.
The sign marking the entrance of Avdiivka is seen amid artillery shelling on Dec. 31, 2023, in Avdiivka, Donetsk Oblast. (Pierre Crom/Getty Images)
Some units of Ukraine's Third Assault Brigade were "completely surrounded" in the city of Avdiivka but managed to escape before Russian forces totally captured the city, the unit's deputy commander, Maksym Zhorin, said on Feb. 19.
Lying mere kilometers from occupied Donetsk, Avdiivka has stood against Russian forces since 2014. The city has been under an intensified onslaught since October 2023, culminating in Avdiivka's capture by Russia on Feb. 17.
Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi announced the withdrawal "in order to avoid encirclement and preserve the lives and health of servicemen," but there were reports that the retreat was not carried out as smoothly as possible.
Zhorin said that despite reports from Russian Telegram channels, none of the fighters from the Third Assault Brigade were left in Avdiivka.
The Ukrainian investigative media outlet Slidtsvo.info reported on Feb. 18 that relatives identified the dead bodies of three Ukrainian soldiers allegedly captured as prisoners of war in Avdiivka in a Russian propaganda video.
The relatives said the soldiers were left behind heavily wounded while the rest of the forces retreated from the Zenit strongpoint in the southern part of the city. Ukraine’s 110th Brigade neither confirmed nor denied the claims as the verification continues, according to Slidstvo.info.
Igor Kossov
