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.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio will travel to to Antalya, Turkey, for a NATO foreign ministers’ meeting from May 14–16, where he is expected to address the war in Ukraine and push for stronger Allied defense commitments.
The Kremlin said the leaders held a detailed discussion about the Russian initiative and Erdogan expressed full support, reiterating Turkey’s readiness to provide a venue and assist in organizing the negotiations.
Erdogan told Macron that international cooperation is critical for initiating peace negotiations and the "sensitive implementation" of Ukraine’s recovery and reconstruction processes, the Turkish Presidency reported.
The assault began around 2 a.m. on May 11, with Russian forces deploying 108 Shahed-type attack drones and decoy UAVs from multiple directions, Ukraine’s Air Force said.
"Think of the hundreds of thousands of lives that will be saved as this never ending 'bloodbath' hopefully comes to an end... I will continue to work with both sides to make sure that it happens."
Deputy Prime Minister Olha Stefanishyna speaks with the Kyiv Independent in downtown Kyiv. (Kostyantyn Chernichkin)
The oil refineries in Russia that have been attacked by Ukraine are "absolutely legitimate targets" from a military point of view, Ukraine's Deputy Prime Minister Olha Stefanishyna said at the Kyiv Security Forum on March 22.
Her statement came after Financial Times' report that U.S. allegedly warned Ukraine to stop attacking Russian oil refineries, cautioning that strikes against the facilities could raise global oil prices and increase the risk of further retaliation. The newspaper cited unnamed sources in Ukraine's military intelligence and Security Service of Ukraine (SBU).
Stefanishyna did not directly confirm whether there was such a call, but said that Ukraine has demonstrated that "it has achieved its goals and that the operations conducted in Russia were very successful."
"We understand the call of our U.S. allies, but at the same time, we are fighting with the capabilities, resources and practices that we have today," Stefanishyna said.
The deputy prime minister said that after Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022, she spoke with representatives of NATO headquarters and asked to help "close the sky" over Ukraine. In NATO's understanding, Stefanishyna said, this meant "primarily destroying the infrastructure in Russia used to attack Ukraine."
"We are acting to the best NATO standards," she added.
Igor Kossov
