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.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz warned that further concessions from Ukraine during negotiations would be unreasonable if Russia continues to attack civilian targets.
Police stand outside a residence that they raided on Dec. 7, 2022, in Berlin, Germany. Law enforcement agencies conducted raids nationwide today and arrested 25 people whom they claim are in an organization bent on violently overthrowing the German government. (Carsten Koall/Getty Images)
German courts will try the first nine members of an extremist group suspected of plotting a coup to overthrow the country's democratic government, Reuters reported on April 29.
This will be only the first in a series of three proceedings with 27 members of the Reichsbuerger (Citizens of the Reich) group, whose alleged plans were thwarted by German authorities in late 2022.
The far-right organization allegedly sought to return to the system reminiscent of the pre-World War I imperial Germany and install aristocrat and businessman Prince Heinrich XIII Reuss as the head of state. Its ranks also included former members of the country's Armed Forces.
Following the coup, the group planned to establish an interim government and begin negotiating with countries that won in World War II, namely Russia, according to the investigation.
The suspected plotters even allegedly contacted Russian consulates in the German cities of Leipzig, Frankfurt, and Baden-Baden.
"It has not yet been possible to clarify how the Russian Federation reacted to the request," German prosecutors said.
The group's ideology has been described as similar to QAnon, a far-right U.S. conspiratorial movement. Its members were supposedly convinced that Germany was ruled by members of the so-called "deep state."
The organization collected around 500,000 euros (roughly $536,000) and purchased weapons and ammunition, investigators said.
Martin Fornusek is a news editor at the Kyiv Independent. He has previously worked as a news content editor at the media company Newsmatics and is a contributor to Euromaidan Press. He was also volunteering as an editor and translator at the Czech-language version of Ukraïner. Martin studied at Masaryk University in Brno, Czechia, holding a bachelor's degree in security studies and history and a master's degree in conflict and democracy studies.
Kateryna Denisova
