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.
U.S. President Donald Trump's special envoys, Steve Witkoff and Keith Kellogg, will travel to Istanbul for possible peace talks between Ukraine and Russia, Reuters reported on May 13, citing three undisclosed sources.
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.
Ukrainian artillerymen of the Aidar battalion work with artillery shells on a front line position near Bakhmut, Donetsk Oblast, on April 22, 2023, amid the Russian invasion on Ukraine. (Photo by Anatolii Stepanov/AFP via Getty Images)
German arms manufacturer Rheinmetall announced that Berlin has ordered the production of 150,000 artillery shells for Ukraine, the company’s website published on Oct. 10.
Although the buyer is the German government, the end user of the munitions will be the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
Tens of thousands of rounds are scheduled to be delivered by the German Bundeswehr in 2023 while the remainder will be sent next year.
“Rheinmetall’s family of artillery ammunition includes the high-explosive DM121 shell, the DM125 smoke/obscurant projectile and (jointly developed with Diehl) the DM702 SMArt sensor fuse munition, plus the RH68 practice round and the range-optimized RH1901 an RH1902 smoke/obscurant projectiles,” reads the announcement.
Both Ukrainian and Russian forces are firing thousands of artillery rounds a day, according to Michael Kofman, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
"In an environment where neither side is able to obtain air superiority, then the way of fighting is going to very heavily privilege artillery."
Lance Luo (Li P. Luo) is a news editor at the Kyiv Independent. Previously, he worked at Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and Hromadske Television in Kyiv. He also spent three years in finance and strategy consulting. Mr. Luo graduated from the University of Southern California and serves as an arbitrator at FINRA.
Martin Fornusek
