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.
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.
The overgrown playground of the Kherson children's orphanage, from where Russian forces allegedly abducted almost 50 children, is seen on Nov. 27, 2022. Photo for illustrative purposes. (Chris McGrath/Getty Images)
Four children who were abducted and deported to Russia at the beginning of the full-scale invasion were possibly put up for adoption on a government-linked adoption site, according to an investigation released by the Financial Times (FT) on June 12.
At least 19,500 children have been confirmed as abducted by Russia since the start of its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and less than 400 of them have returned home, according to the Ukrainian government's database.
The FT's investigation, which used facial recognition tools, public records, and interviews with family members of the abducted children, identified four Ukrainian children aged eight to 15 on the Russian government-linked adoption website usynovite.ru. The children were reportedly abducted from state-care homes.
One of the children had a new Russian name and a different age than the one listed on their Ukrainian document, and another had a Russianized version of their name. None of the information about the children indicated that they came from Ukraine.
The Ukrainian Child Rights Protection (CPRC), a government institution, confirmed the real identities of the children, the FT said.
The FT said that the relatives of the children declined to publicly comment on the abduction and adoption site, citing fears that doing so could prevent their possible return home.
Ukrainian children who have been forcibly deported to Russia are subject to systemic re-education efforts by Russian authorities, according to a report published in the Guardian on Feb. 4.
In March 2023, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russian Children's Rights Commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova for allegedly overseeing the forced deportations of Ukrainian children to Russia.
