The new tranche brings total recent EU defense support for Ukraine to 3.3 billion euros ($3.6 billion), marking a significant expansion of European efforts to boost Kyiv's defense industry.
"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.
Both men face charges related to terrorism and espionage. Daniil B. was detained in Lithuania, where he is in temporary custody, while Oleksandr V. remains at large in Russia.
Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said Ukraine and its allies discussed tougher sanctions against Russia's banking sector, central bank, and energy industry.
"We are ready for all options. But of course, we are separately waiting for a response on the ceasefire," a source close to President Volodymyr Zelensky told the Kyiv Independent.
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.
Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during a news conference with Serbia's President Aleksandar Vucic at the Palace of Serbia in Belgrade, Serbia, on Sept. 7, 2022. (Oliver Bunic/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
During a phone call with President Volodymyr Zelensky on Sept. 28, Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that Russia's "unilateral" referendums held in Russian-occupied territories of four Ukrainian regions will complicate efforts to revive the "diplomatic process."
According to a statement released by Erdogan's office, he also said that Turkey "stands ready to provide every kind of support for the settlement of the war through peaceful negotiations."
Following the phone call, Zelensky thanked Erdogan "for the unwavering support of the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine, as well as for the principled position on non-recognition of the illegal pseudo-referendums that Russia held in the occupied territories."
Erdogan also offered to facilitate the establishment of a demilitarized zone around the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in occupied Enerhodar, Zaporizhzhia Oblast. Russia, which has been shelling Ukrainian positions from the plant, is accused of using it as a shield and a tool of nuclear blackmail.
On Sept. 28, Russia declared a 98% secession support rate in illegal referendums held at gunpoint in the occupied territories in Ukraine.
Moscow is expected to use these "results" as a pretext to illegally annex parts of Ukraine's Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia oblasts, as it did with Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula in 2014.
Kyiv had warned that there will be no negotiations with Russia if the shame referendums are held.
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