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."
Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas speaks during a joint press conference with Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Jens Stoltenberg, Secretary General of NATO (not pictured) at the Tapa Army Base on March 1, 2022, in Tallinn, Estonia. (Leon Neal/Getty Images)
The EU should work on a plan to issue 100 billion euros ($108 billion) in Eurobonds to boost the European defense industry, Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas told Bloomberg on Feb. 18.
Speaking at the Munich Security Conference, Kallas also said that European countries should do more to support Ukraine against Russian aggression.
The full-scale Russian invasion, soon to hit its two-year mark, was one of the key topics on the conference's agenda. European leaders also discussed ways to revive domestic defense production for their and Kyiv's needs, as U.S. assistance remains stalled by domestic political disputes.
"We are in a place where we need to invest more and (explore) what we can do together because the bonds that would be issued by separate countries individually are too small to scale up," Kallas said.
"Eurobonds could have a much bigger impact."
Bloomberg noted that the idea to jointly borrow funds to boost the defense industry has already been supported by French President Emmanuel Macron and European Council President Charles Michel but countries like the Netherlands and Germany are likely to be more hesitant.
Calls to foster Europe's military self-reliance grew stronger due to the prospect of Donald Trump's return to the White House in this year's presidential election.
Trump raised concerns among NATO allies when he said he would encourage Russia to do "whatever the hell it wants" to members who do not meet the 2% defense spending mark.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said last week that 18 of the 31 NATO members are expected to meet the goal of spending at least 2% of GDP in 2024, an increase of seven countries from the previous year.
Kallas also said in the interview with Bloomberg that European countries should step up efforts to supply Ukraine with weapons from standing stockpiles or those purchased abroad.
"Europe has done a lot and has to also do more. That is clear," the prime minister said, pointing out that "if we, as a small country, still find things that we can send, I'm sure that the bigger countries also have things that they can give or send to Ukraine so that they can defend themselves."
Martin Fornusek is a news editor at the Kyiv Independent. He has previously worked as a news content editor at the media company Newsmatics and is a contributor to Euromaidan Press. He was also volunteering as an editor and translator at the Czech-language version of Ukraïner. Martin studied at Masaryk University in Brno, Czechia, holding a bachelor's degree in security studies and history and a master's degree in conflict and democracy studies.
Nate Ostiller
