Performing their song "Bird of Pray," Ukrainian band Ziferblat passed the Eurovision semi-finals on May 13, qualifying Ukraine for the grand final on May 17.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov confirmed that a Russian delegation will be in Istanbul on May 15 for direct peace talks with Ukraine. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Putin’s foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov will likely represent Russia.
The move follows Ukraine's ratification of the minerals agreement, deepening U.S.-Ukraine economic ties and signaling expanded U.S. involvement in Ukraine's long-term recovery.
"Ukraine has initiated a coordinated campaign to vilify Hungary in order to undermine our initiative to hold a poll on (Kyiv's) EU membership," Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz warned that further concessions from Ukraine during negotiations would be unreasonable if Russia continues to attack civilian targets.
U.S. President Donald Trump's special envoys, Steve Witkoff and Keith Kellogg, will travel to Istanbul for possible peace talks between Ukraine and Russia, Reuters reported on May 13, citing three undisclosed sources.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said he will meet with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara, but said both leaders are ready to fly to Istanbul if Russian President Vladimir Putin chooses to attend the talks there.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban arrives at the European Council summit in Brussels on Dec. 14, 2023. (Jean Catuffe/Getty Images)
The European Parliament will vote later this week on a resolution that calls for stripping Hungary of its voting rights at the European Council, Member of the European Parliament (MEP) Petri Sarvamaa said on Jan. 16.
Earlier this month, Sarvamaa launched a petition to remove some of Budapest's membership rights, including voting, due to the country's "erosion of the rule of law" and obstructive behavior in the face of EU consensus building.
Hungary has been blocking a 50-billion-euro funding package for Ukraine just as Kyiv entered the third calendar year of an all-out war with Russia.
"Delivering on our promises: the final letter has now been sent to the President of the Parliament," Sarvamaa, a senior member of the parliament who sits on several committees, said on the social media platform X.
"On Thursday (Jan. 18), we will be voting on a joint motion resolution, negotiated this morning with five political groups in the parliament."
The resolution calls on the European Council to strip Hungary of its voting rights under Article 7.2 of the EU treaty, which stipulates the option to suspend a member's voting rights in case of a "serious and persistent breach."
The European Council must then decide unanimously whether the breach is still occurring, after which it votes by a qualified majority to suspend the rights of the accused country.
Most political groups in the European Parliament also want a probe into the EU Commission's decision to unfreeze around $11 billion in funds for Hungary shortly before the December summit, the Euractiv outlet wrote.
Many MEPs criticized the decision, saying that the executive arm was giving in to Hungary's blackmail.
The European Commission said that the decision was taken strictly due to procedural reasons, namely due to judicial reforms undertaken by Hungary.
Although Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban blocked the funding for Ukraine, he allowed other EU leaders to reach a consensus on accession talks with Kyiv by leaving the room during a key vote.
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.
Timothy Ash
