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.
A captive named Umit allegedly agreed to serve in the Russian army in exchange for Russian citizenship and a monetary reward of 2 million rubles ($25,000).
A photo capturing the five-story residential building struck by a Russian aerial bomb attack on April 14, 2024, released by regional governor Vadym Filashkin. (Donetsk Oblast Governor Vadym Filaskhin/Telegram)
Russian troops launched an aerial bomb attack on a village in eastern Donetsk Oblast, killing one person and wounding two, Governor Vadym Filashkin reported on April 14.
The attack hit a five-story building in the village of Ocheretyne, located a half-and-an-hour drive northwest of Russian-occupied Avdiivka. Rescuers had retrieved the body of a 67-year-old woman from the rubble, according to Filashkin. The wounded were hospitalized, he added.
Russia's deadly attack on the village comes as Russia steps up its offensives in the east. Ukraine's Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said on April 13 that the situation on Ukraine's eastern front has "significantly deteriorated in recent days," with Russian troops increasing armored assaults in the areas of Bakhmut, Lyman, and Pokrovsk.
"Now I call: don’t risk your life! Evacuate!" Governor Filashkin said in his Telegram post, urging civilians remaining in Donetsk Oblast to evacuate.
Throughout Russia's full-scale war, Russian troops have launched deadly attacks against civilians across Ukraine's east and south – leaving remaining residents in front-line areas at grave risk.
At least 604 Ukrainian civilians were killed or injured in March, representing a 20% increase from the previous month, the U.N.'s human rights monitoring mission in Ukraine said in a report released on April 9.
Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, the U.N. said that at least 10,810 civilians have been killed and at least 20,556 injured. But it emphasized that the true figure of civilian casualties is likely much higher, as the true toll on Russian-occupied territories remains unknown.
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