"I am waiting to see who will come from Russia, and then I will decide which steps Ukraine should take. So far, the signals from them in the media are unconvincing," President Volodymyr Zelensky said.
The air raid was announced at around 2:30 p.m. local time, while the explosion sounded around 2:50 p.m. The number of victims killed rose to three, Sumy Oblast Governor Oleh Hryhorov reported at 8:42 p.m.
If confirmed, the decision would mark the first time since Russia's full-scale invasion that President Volodymyr Zelensky is absent, either physically or virtually, from a NATO summit.
The disclosure follows a warning from Digital Affairs Minister Krzysztof Gawkowski, who on May 6 said Moscow was carrying out an "unprecedented" interference campaign.
Brazilian President Lula da Silva claimed that Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha had appealed to his Brazilian counterpart, Mauro Vieira, to ask Putin if he was willing to conclude a peace agreement.
Earlier reporting from the Washington Post cited a former Russian official who claimed Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Putin’s foreign policy aide, Yuri Ushakov, would represent Moscow in the talks.
The Council of Europe on May 14 approved the creation of a special tribunal to prosecute Russia's top leadership for the crime of aggression against Ukraine, Ukrainian lawmaker Maria Mezentseva reported.
Viktoria Roshchyna, 27, disappeared in August 2023 while reporting from Ukraine's Russian-occupied territories. Moscow admitted she was in Russian detention the following year.
A man walks past the Moscow's stock market building in downtown Moscow on Feb. 28, 2022 (Natalia Kolesnikova/AFP via Getty Images)
Germany's Federal Prosecutor General Peter Frank has submitted paperwork to confiscate 720 million euros ($787 million) in Russian funds currently frozen in Germany, Der Spiegel reported on Dec. 20, citing sources.
If the plan comes to fruition, it would mark a change in Germany's position toward Russian assets it holds, as currently Germany has only frozen funds belonging to sanctioned individuals and companies.
The $787 million belongs to a subsidiary of the Moscow Stock Exchange, which the EU sanctioned in June 2022. Germany also froze its assets located in German banks.
After the stock exchange was sanctioned, the subsidiary attempted to transfer the funds. Sources said that the failed transfer could be considered an attempt to circumvent sanctions and, therefore, a crime.
If the funds are confiscated, they would be redirected into Germany's federal budget.
There has been an ongoing debate in the West about how best to confiscate frozen Russian assets and redirect them to Ukraine.
One of the significant portions of frozen Russian assets is the $300 billion from Russia's central bank.
The plan to confiscate the funds has widespread support from Kyiv and Brussels but has been bogged down by legal issues.
Dominic Culverwell
