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 business tycoon and one of Ukraine's most famous oligarchs, Ihor Kolomoisky, was arrested after being suspected of fraud at a court hearing in Kyiv on Sept. 2, 2023. (Maxym Marusenko/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
The government decided to postpone the launch of the register of oligarchs until three months after the end of martial law, according to an official document dated Sept. 19 and recently made public.
The register was planned to be launched three months after the evaluation by the Venice Commission, a body of the Council of Europe that advises Ukraine on steps toward EU integration, on Ukraine's anti-oligarch law.
President Volodymyr Zelensky signed a decree to introduce the register on June 30, 2022, in accordance with the anti-oligarch law signed in 2021.
The law sets the legal definition of an oligarch and requires officials to declare contacts with them.
It also bans oligarchs from financing political parties, political ads, or demonstrations and excludes them from the privatization of state assets.
In June 2023, the Venice Commission recommended to Ukraine to postpone the implementation of the anti-oligarch law until after the war.
The implementation of the law is one of the seven criteria set by the European Commission that Ukraine should fulfill on its path toward EU accession.
Martial law was introduced in Ukraine at the start of the full-scale Russian invasion and is being periodically prolonged every three months.
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.
Igor Kossov
