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.
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.
European Commissioner for Trade Valdis Dombrovskis speaks during a press conference on the EU's partnership with Latin America and the Caribbean at the EU headquarters in Brussels on June 7, 2023. (Photo by Kenzo Tribouillard/AFP via Getty Images)
The Group of Seven (G7) countries are discussing using frozen Russian assets as collateral to provide loans to Ukraine, Reuters reported on April 18, citing European Commission Executive Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis.
Ukraine's Western partners and other allies froze around $300 billion in Russian assets at the start of the full-scale invasion in 2022. Despite numerous calls to use them as assistance for Kyiv, no clear plan has been finalized so far.
Dombrovskis noted that several options are under consideration as talks are ongoing. While not revealing which course of action has the most support, he noted that the final plan will likely involve collateralizing the assets instead of confiscating them.
According to the official, the EU aims to approve a separate measure in the coming months to use profits generated by the frozen assets to help Ukraine.
Roughly two-thirds of the Russian assets are held at the Belgium-based financial services company Euroclear.
A plan presented by the European Commission in March envisioned using 90% of the profits to buy weapons for Kyiv, but the proposal met pushback from militarily neutral members who instead wish to use it to fund Ukraine's reconstruction.
G7 finance ministers failed to reach an agreement on how to move forward with the Russian assets during an April 17 meeting in Washington but pledged to work on the options ahead of the June summit in Italy.
"We reaffirm our determination to ensure that Russia pays for the damage it has caused to Ukraine," the G7 statement read.
"We will continue to work on all possible ways in which frozen Russian sovereign assets can be used to support Ukraine in accordance with international law and our respective legal systems, with a view to informing our leaders ahead of the Puglia summit in June."
Andrew Kosenko
