"I invited His Holiness to make an apostolic visit to Ukraine. Such a visit would bring real hope to all believers and to all our people," Zelensky said.
Previously, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk accused the Russian intelligence services of orchestrating a May 2024 arson attack on the Marywilska shopping centre in Warsaw.
Presidential Office chief Andriy Yermak voiced doubt about leading negotiations with anyone from Russia except President Vladimir Putin, implying only the Russian leader can make real decisions.
This includes at least seven people injured in drone attacks overnight on May 12, a date from which Kyiv and its allies put forward a demand for a 30-day unconditional truce, a step that Moscow continues to reject.
"When European unity becomes inconvenient, disinformation goes so far as to make a simple tissue look like drugs," the Elysee Palace reacted to a fake story pushed by Russia.
The comments came after Trump urged Ukraine to agree to direct negotiations with Russia, which has invited Kyiv to peace talks in Istanbul on May 15, without first agreeing to halt military operations.
A Russian drone hit a civilian freight train in Donetsk Oblast on May 12 and injured its driver, Ukrainian Railways said amid Kyiv's calls for a ceasefire.
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.
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock gives a press conference alongside the Foreign Minister of the Republic of Estonia at the Federal Foreign Office, Berlin, on Aug. 22, 2023. (Photo credit: Kay Nietfeld/picture alliance via Getty Images)
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said that the sanctions imposed by the West against Russia over its aggression against Ukraine are not effective enough, Deutsche Welle (DW) reported on Aug. 24.
"In general, economic sanctions should have an economic effect. However, this is not the case," DW wrote, quoting Baerbock in the book by journalist Stephan Lamby "Ernstfall: Regieren in Zeiten des Krieges."
"We have learned that the war cannot be ended through rational solutions, rational measures agreed upon by civilized governments," she added, noting that the logic that works in democratic countries cannot be applied to autocratic regimes.
The outlet wrote that the Russian economy keeps growing despite the sanctions thanks to the "wartime economy" boost. However, such growth is not sustainable in the long term, DW reported, citing economy experts.
Following Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Western countries and other partners have imposed extensive sanctions against Russia, hoping to cripple its economy and undermine arms production.
Earlier in August, the Russian ruble briefly broke through 100 to the U.S. dollar. Many countries have divested from Russian oil and gas, slashing Russia's export income to half its prewar levels.
In spite of that, Russia has doubled its 2023 military spending to over $100 billion, or a third of the state budget. Moscow has also learned to circumvent Western sanctions using third countries to maintain its arms production.
Igor Kossov
