Andriy Yermak, Zelensky's chief of staff, said that the new pontiff had a phone call with Zelensky on Monday, during which the pope expressed willingness to facilitate meetings between global leaders and vowed to support efforts for "a just and lasting peace."
In an interview with French broadcaster TF1 on May 13, Macron discussed new Russia sanctions and stationing French nuclear weapons in other European countries as a deterrent against Russia.
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.
Rescuers and civilians worked to pull victims from the rubble of a missile strike on a residential building resulting in two deaths and 54 injured on April 24, 2025 in Kyiv, Ukraine (Kostiantyn Liberov/Libkos/Getty Images)
Search and rescue operations at the site of a Russian missile and drone attack on Kyiv overnight on April 24 have ended, Ukraine's State Emergency Service said on April 25.
The attack killed 12 people and injured 87 others, including six children, according to the report.
Thirty-one people remain hospitalized, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said a day earlier.
A series of explosions rocked the capital around 1:00 a.m. local time on April 24, Kyiv Independent journalists on the ground reported. Additional explosions were later heard around 4 a.m. local time.
Russia launched attack drones, as well as cruise and ballistic missiles, the Kyiv City Military Administration said.
"We were at home and there were explosions," Maria Rumiantseva, a 40-year-old resident of one of the buildings damaged in the attack, told the Kyiv Independent.
"Then I heard the Shahed. We just went out into the corridor, went to open the door, and that was it — an explosion."
Klitschko added that six children, as well as a pregnant woman, were among the injured.
Fires were reported in residential buildings, Kyiv City Military Administration chief Tymur Tkachenko said, adding that cars and commercial buildings have been impacted as well.
Fallen debris was found around the city, Tkachenko added, describing the attack as "Russian peace in all its glory."
Rescuers and residents of neighboring houses pull a pregnant woman out of the rubble in the aftermath of a missile strike that killed two people and injured 54 others on April 24, 2025 in Kyiv, Ukraine. Among the injured were six children. (Kostiantyn Liberov/Libkos/Getty Images)
Rescuers and civilians worked to pull victims from the rubble of a missile strike on a residential building resulting in two deaths and 54 injured on April 24, 2025 in Kyiv, Ukraine. Among the injured were six children and one pregnant woman (Kostiantyn Liberov/Libkos/Getty Images)
Rescuers and civilians worked to pull victims from the rubble of a missile strike on a residential building resulting in two deaths and 54 injured on April 24, 2025 in Kyiv, Ukraine. Among the injured were six children and one pregnant woman (Kostiantyn Liberov/Libkos/Getty Images)
Rescuers and civilians worked to pull victims from the rubble of a missile strike on a residential building resulting in two deaths and 54 injured on April 24, 2025 in Kyiv, Ukraine. Among the injured were six children and one pregnant woman (Kostiantyn Liberov/Libkos/Getty Images)
Emergency workers sift through the rubble of a collapsed building in hopes of uncovering victims following a Russian missile strike on Kyiv overnight on April 24, 2025. (Ukraine State Emergency Service)
Emergency workers work to extinguish a fire caused by a Russian attack on Kyiv overnight on April 24, 2025. (Ukraine State Emergency Service)
The mass attack came just hours after the Kremlin demanded Ukraine's full recognition of Russia’s claim over four Ukrainian oblasts it partially occupies, neutral status for Ukraine, and an end to all Western military support.
Earlier on April 23, U.S. President Donald Trump suggested that President Volodymyr Zelensky was the main obstacle to peace in Ukraine.
Later in the night, Russia launched missiles targeting various regions of the country.
Zhytomyr, Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv, Poltava, Khmelnytskyi, Sumy, and Zaporizhzhia oblasts were also targeted in the "massive combined strike," though Kyiv was hit the hardest, Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said.
In response to the attack, Poland's Air Force scrambled allied fighter jets to protect the country's own airspace from missiles that may stray into Polish territory.
Russia has regularly targeted civilian infrastructure since the onset of its full-scale war against Ukraine in February 2022.
The U.S. has been in talks with Ukraine and Russia to negotiate an end to Russia's war against Ukraine.
Ukraine has already agreed to a U.S.-proposed full 30-day ceasefire, saying on March 11 that Kyiv is ready if Russia also agrees to the terms.
Natalia Yermak
