"If they speak to each other in Russian, he doesn't know what they are saying," one Western official told NBC News. Michael McFaul, former U.S. ambassador to Russia, called Witkoff's approach "a very bad idea."
Tougher sanctions "should be applied to (Russia's) banking and energy sectors, targeting fossil fuels, oil, and the shadow fleet," the leaders of Ukraine, the U.K., France, Germany, and Poland said in a joint statement.
"Russia is ready for negotiations without any preconditions," Putin claimed in an address marking the end of the three-day Victory Day ceasefire. He invited Ukraine to begin talks in Istanbul on May 15.
While serving as a bishop in Peru, Robert Prevost, now Pope Leo XIV, called the full-scale war "a true invasion, imperialist in nature, where Russia seeks to conquer territory for reasons of power."
Speaking to CNN on May 10, Peskov commented on the latest ceasefire proposal from Ukraine and Europe, responding that Russia needs to "think about" it, but is "resistant" to pressure.
Speaking at a press conference in Kyiv on May 10, President Volodymyr Zelensky rebuked the idea of a demilitarized zone in the war and emphasized the importance of first securing a ceasefire.
"We agreed that a full and unconditional ceasefire must begin on Monday, May 12, for at least 30 days. We jointly demand this from Russia, and we know we are supported in this by the United States," Zelensky said.
Ukrainian media outlet ZN.UA reported on May 10 that their law enforcement sources confirmed an ongoing probe by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau into suspected embezzlement, money laundering and bribery.
Iran is preparing to send Russia Fath-360 short-range ballistic missile launchers, Reuters reported on May 9, citing Western security and regional officials familiar with the matter.
"Ukraine and all allies are ready for a complete unconditional ceasefire on land, in the air, and at sea for at least 30 days, starting as early as Monday," Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha wrote.
Photo for iillustrative purposes. Stock image of a person typing on a laptop keyboard. (Rapeepong Puttakumwong via Getty Images)
Data on over 6,000 meetings held by Germany's Budeswehr was available online until May 3, according to the German media outlet Die Zeit.
Die Ziet's report came after an audio recording of a conversation between German Air Force officers on the delivery of Taurus long-range missiles to Ukraine and the training of Ukrainian troops was leaked.
The nearly 40-minute conversation was published on March 1 by Margarita Simonyan, the editor-in-chief of Kremlin-controlled TV channel RT.
German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius later said that the call between the officers was held via Webex videoconferencing software hosted on German army servers, but "not all participants adhered to the secure dial-in procedure as required."
Several thousand links containing information about conferences were available online until the evening of May 3, according to Die Zeit. The information reportedly included information on meetings' schedules, agendas, duration, organizers.
The leak could be "severe" as some of the online meetings were secret, Die Zeit said.
Die Ziet journalists could reportedly join the private video conference rooms of some Bundeswehremployees, including the head of the German Air Force, Lieutenant General Ingo Gerhartz. Die Zeit claimed that the meeting had no password protection.
The Budeswehr has reportedly not ruled out the possibility that secret information was leaked as a result.
The Bundeswehr told Die Zeit that it has decided to temporarily stop using Webex.
Kateryna Hodunova is a News Editor at the Kyiv Independent. She previously worked as a sports journalist in several Ukrainian outlets and was the deputy chief editor at Suspilne Sport. Kateryna covered the 2022 Olympics in Beijing and was included in the Special Mentions list at the AIPS Sport Media Awards. She holds a bachelor's degree in political journalism from Taras Shevchenko University and a master's degree in political science from the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy.
Martin Fornusek
