Moscow and Hanoi agreed to negotiate and sign agreements to construct nuclear power plants in Vietnam, the two countries said in a joint statement on May 11.
The sanctions appear to be in response to Russia's rejection of a 30-day ceasefire that the U.K., alongside Ukraine, France, Germany, and Poland, demanded during a visit to Kyiv on May 10.
"We now know for sure that the great fire of the Marywilska shopping centre in Warsaw was caused by arson ordered by the Russian special services," Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on X. "Some of the perpetrators have already been detained, all the others are identified and searched for."
The publications' latest report covers the period of February 24, 2022 to May 8, 2025. Since it was last updated at the end of April, 2,857 additional Russian military personnel have been confirmed killed.
Hungary cancelled a meeting planned for May 12 with a Ukrainian delegation on the rights of national minorities, Hungary's Deputy Foreign Minister said on May 11, amid a deepening spying scandal between the two countries.
Three were injured in Russia's Kursk Oblast when the town of Rylsk was allegedly struck by a missile attack on May 11, local governor Alexander Khinshtein claimed.
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.
Farmers inspect unsold grain stores on a farm in Sędziejowice, Poland, on Monday, April 17, 2023. (Bartek Sadowski/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Poland will have to lift its ban on grain shipment on May 2, according to undisclosed sources cited by Polish media RMF 24.
In exchange, the EU will allow an embargo on wheat, corn, rapeseed, and sunflower for five EU countries – Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, Bulgaria, and Romania. They would still be obligated to transport these products elsewhere.
Bulgaria, Hungary, and Slovakia reportedly confirmed that they would withdraw their ban on grain as soon as possible.
Ukraine's Foreign Ministry on April 29 lashed out at Poland and the EU on what it called a "categorically unacceptable" situation concerning the trade restrictions on Ukrainian grain, urging its allies to "find a balanced solution."
President Volodymyr Zelensky on April 28 said he spoke with European Council President Charles Michel regarding the ban, calling it "a gross violation of the Association Agreement and the founding treaties of the EU."
"This gives the Kremlin dangerous hope, the hope that in our common European home, someone's wrong decisions can prevail over common interests," Zelensky said in his evening address on April 28.
On April 28, after nearly two weeks of negotiations, European Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis announcedthat five EU countries finally "reached a political agreement" with the European Commission on Ukrainian grain imports.
The five EU countries will receive 100 million euros in support package to compensate farmers, and the agreement included "safeguard measures" for wheat, sunflower seeds, maize, and rapeseed, according to Dombrovskis. He did not disclose more details.
After starting its full-scale invasion, Russia blocked Ukrainian ports on the Black Sea, hindering Ukraine from exporting its grain via sea and forcing Kyiv to start exporting through neighboring countries, primarily Poland.
Soon, large quantities of cheap Ukrainian grain stayed in neighboring Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, Romania, and Bulgaria, affecting the prices and sales at domestic markets and causing an uproar among local farmers.
Ukraine's overload of food exports to the European Union has become a thorn in Kyiv's relationship with its close neighbors against the backdrop of a long-running political conflict between these countries and the European Commission.
We are the news team of the Kyiv Independent. We are here to make sure our readers get quick, essential updates about the events in Ukraine. Feel free to contact us via email with feedback and news alerts.
Alexander Query
