Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said Ukraine and its allies discussed tougher sanctions against Russia's banking sector, central bank, and energy industry.
The EU plans to unveil on May 14 its next package of sanctions imposed against Russia over its aggression against Ukraine, an EU official told the Kyiv Independent on condition of anonymity.
Polish truckers plan to restrict freight traffic at the Yahodyn-Dorohusk checkpoint on the Ukrainian border, Ukraine's State Border Guard said on May 12.
"If the Russians are using this level of specialists in urban combat, they are probably facing some difficulties," Ivan Petrychak, spokesperson for the 24th Separate Mechanized Brigade, said.
Previously, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk accused the Russian intelligence services of orchestrating a May 2024 arson attack on the Marywilska shopping centre in Warsaw.
"Perhaps in some areas, the intensity decreased slightly to create an image of compliance with their own announcement. But in reality, (Russia) continued attacks every day, using all available weapons — including aircraft to drop guided bombs on Ukraine," Andrii Demchenko, spokesperson for Ukraine’s State Border Guard Service, said.
Beijing supports all efforts toward achieving peace in Ukraine, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said on May 12 when asked about Kyiv and Europe's proposal for a 30-day truce.
"I invited His Holiness to make an apostolic visit to Ukraine. Such a visit would bring real hope to all believers and to all our people," Zelensky said.
Presidential Office chief Andriy Yermak voiced doubt about leading negotiations with anyone from Russia except President Vladimir Putin, implying only the Russian leader can make real decisions.
This includes at least seven people injured in drone attacks overnight on May 12, a date from which Kyiv and its allies put forward a demand for a 30-day unconditional truce, a step that Moscow continues to reject.
"When European unity becomes inconvenient, disinformation goes so far as to make a simple tissue look like drugs," the Elysee Palace reacted to a fake story pushed by Russia.
The comments came after Trump urged Ukraine to agree to direct negotiations with Russia, which has invited Kyiv to peace talks in Istanbul on May 15, without first agreeing to halt military operations.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev arrives at the 2018 NATO Summit at NATO headquarters on July 12, 2018 in Brussels, Belgium. (Jasper Juinen/Getty Images)
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev easily won a snap presidential election on Feb. 7, securing another seven-year term in office. Aliyev has been in power since 2003, succeeding his father, Heydar Aliyev, who was president from 1993-2003.
"The Azerbaijani people have elected Ilham Aliyev as the country's president," Central Election Commission Chief Mazahir Panahov said in a press conference.
Panahov also claimed that voter turnout was 67.7 percent.
The election, which Aliyev was widely expected to win, was seen as a referendum on the country's victory in September 2023 over Armenian forces in Nagorno-Karabakh after decades of ongoing conflict.
Azerbaijan fought against ethnic Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh and forces from the Republic of Armenia from 1988-1994. The war ended in an Armenian victory and the creation of the breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh Republic within the territory of Azerbaijan that is recognized by international law.
In 2020, Armenia and Azerbaijan fought a war in which the latter's forces successfully reclaimed a large portion of the territory before a ceasefire was mediated by Moscow, which sent a "peacekeeping" force of several thousand Russian troops to the region.
In the following years, tensions did not subside, with Azerbaijan blockading the Lachin corridor, the only road connecting Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh, leading to a humanitarian crisis widely condemned by UN member states and international organizations.
Freedom House, a nonprofit advocating international democracy, gave Azerbaijan a 0/4 rating on electoral freedom in its 2023 report card on human rights in the country. The overall score was 9/100, including 2/40 in terms of political freedom.
"Since the early 1990s, elections have not been considered credible or competitive by international observers," the human rights group said.
"Opposition politicians and party officials are subject to arbitrary arrest on dubious charges, physical violence, and intimidation."
The Azerbaijani government was widely mocked for not even bothering with the semblance of respecting the democratic process after it released the results of the 2013 presidential election a full day before the voting started.
Martin Fornusek
