Russia seems to be preparing a significant offensive in Ukraine as it is moving troops toward key positions on the front, the Financial Times reported on May 13, citing undisclosed Ukrainian intelligence officials.
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.
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.
Olaf Scholz, Germany's chancellor, during a news conference following a Special European Council summit in Brussels, Belgium, on Thursday, April 18, 2024. (Simon Wohlfahrt/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
European Union countries failed to approve a new sanctions package targeting the Russian gas industry after German authorities intervened to block the deal at the last minute.
The measures would have banned EU member states from re-exporting Russian liquified natural gas (LNG) from EU ports and financing planned Arctic and Baltic LNG terminals. German officials reportedly expressed concern about an expanded measure that would force EU companies to guarantee their customers cannot go on to sell sanctioned goods to Russia.
This restriction previously only applied to firearms, military equipment, and dual-use goods with both a military and civilian application. Berlin is concerned that the expansion of this measure to non-dual-use civilian products, such as chemicals or metalworking equipment, could harm German small businesses.
Belgium was forced to split talks on the new sanctions package into two separate discussions following Germany's opposition to new sanctions against Belarus.
Both France and Germany opposed EU sanctions on Belarus, which were introduced to close a trade loophole that has allowed Russia to import luxury cars and other banned goods produced in Western countries.
This latest package would have been the 14th round of EU sanctions against Russia since the beginning of the full-scale invasion in February 2022.
An anonymous source told Politico that the European Commission is now working with the German chancellery to convince Berlin to lift the veto.
Initially a hesitant partner, Berlin has become Ukraine's second-largest military donor after the U.S., although German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is still reluctant to supply some key capabilities, namely Taurus long-range missiles.
Rachel Amran is a news editor at the Kyiv Independent. She previously worked on the Europe and Central Asia team of Human Rights Watch investigating war crimes in Ukraine. Rachel holds a master's degree in Russian, Eastern European, and Eurasian Regional Studies from Columbia University.
Elsa Court
