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.
A captive named Umit allegedly agreed to serve in the Russian army in exchange for Russian citizenship and a monetary reward of 2 million rubles ($25,000).
Ukrainian advisor to the Office of the President Oleksii Arestovych announced his resignation after falsely claiming that Ukrainian air defense had hit a Russian missile before it destroyed an apartment building in Dnipro, killing at least 44 people on Jan. 14.
Russian propaganda channels seized on Arestovych’s claim, which was swiftly refuted by the Ukrainian Air Force. He was then forced to apologize to the victims of the attack.
The advisor cited his "fundamental mistake" as the reason for his departure.
Arestovych is a blogger and former military officer, who, in his position as strategic communications advisor, started posting daily briefings about the status of the full-scale invasion from inside the Office of the President in Kyiv. He also posted a series of videos in which he predicted a swift victory by Ukraine.
Arestovych’s accessibility and calm demeanor gained him a substantial following and greatly raised his profile in the media, where he was frequently cited. However, many of his claims would prove false or misleading.
He also made multiple controversial statements about Ukrainian culture, LGBT people, Ukrainian servicewomen and other topics before and after the invasion, quickly damaging his reputation among the Ukrainian public.
In 2005, Arestovych joined the right-wing Brotherhood party, which was alleged to have ties with former Ukrainian oligarch Russian proxy Viktor Medvedchuk.
Arestovych reportedly participated in conferences organized by the neo-fascist Eurasian Movement of Aleksandr Dugin, an adviser to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Arestovych opposed the Orange Revolution in 2004, which challenged the fraudulent election victory of pro-Russian politician and future president Viktor Yanukovych, who later fled to Russia after the Euromaidan revolution in 2014.
We are the news team of the Kyiv Independent. We are here to make sure our readers get quick, essential updates about the events in Ukraine. Feel free to contact us via email with feedback and news alerts.
