Erdogan told Macron that international cooperation is critical for initiating peace negotiations and the "sensitive implementation" of Ukraine’s recovery and reconstruction processes, the Turkish Presidency reported.
The assault began around 2 a.m. on May 11, with Russian forces deploying 108 Shahed-type attack drones and decoy UAVs from multiple directions, Ukraine’s Air Force said.
"Think of the hundreds of thousands of lives that will be saved as this never ending 'bloodbath' hopefully comes to an end... I will continue to work with both sides to make sure that it happens."
U.S. State Department Spokesperson Tammy Bruce called for "concrete proposals from both sides" in order for Washington to "move forward" in peace negotiations.
"If they speak to each other in Russian, he doesn't know what they are saying," one Western official told NBC News. Michael McFaul, former U.S. ambassador to Russia, called Witkoff's approach "a very bad idea."
Tougher sanctions "should be applied to (Russia's) banking and energy sectors, targeting fossil fuels, oil, and the shadow fleet," the leaders of Ukraine, the U.K., France, Germany, and Poland said in a joint statement.
"Russia is ready for negotiations without any preconditions," Putin claimed in an address marking the end of the three-day Victory Day ceasefire. He invited Ukraine to begin talks in Istanbul on May 15.
While serving as a bishop in Peru, Robert Prevost, now Pope Leo XIV, called the full-scale war "a true invasion, imperialist in nature, where Russia seeks to conquer territory for reasons of power."
People withdraw cash from an ATM of the PrivatBank in downtown Kyiv on Dec. 15, 2021. The Sixth Court of Appeal in Kyiv refused to let oligarch Ihor Kolomoisky-linked companies off the hook in the PrivatBank case on Dec. 14, 2021. (Volodymyr Petrov)
The Sixth Court of Appeal in Kyiv refused to let oligarch Ihor Kolomoisky-linked companies off the hook in the PrivatBank case on Dec. 14.
The decision is a blow to Triantal Investments, a Cyprus-based firm that's under Kolomoisky's control, according to the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU). The company used to own over 16.7% of PrivatBank, Ukraine's biggest lender.
Kolomoisky used to co-own PrivatBank, which was nationalized in 2016 after the government found a $5.5 billion hole in its balance sheet. The hole was allegedly caused by rampant insider lending and dubious money transfers to related companies, including ones that are based overseas.
The NBU in December 2016 established a list of entities allegedly related to Kolomoisky. It was to convert the deposits of the oligarch’s business partners into the banks’ shares (bail-in procedure). The people deemed associates of the bank’s former owners have been disputing this NBU decision for years.
On April 18, 2019, the Kyiv District Administrative Court issued two separate decisions in Kolomoisky's favor. First, it ruled that the nationalization of PrivatBank was illegal. Second, it granted Triantal's motion to invalidate the NBU's list of related parties. The central bank appealed both decisions.
On Dec. 14, the appellate court overturned the administrative court's second decision, reviving the related party list. That case is now closed.
The Kyiv Administrative District Court is widely seen by pro-reform activists as the most corrupt judicial institution in Ukraine.
The battle over PrivatBank has gone on for close to five years in six different countries, including Ukraine, the U.K., Cyprus, Israel, the U.S. and Switzerland.
In Ukraine, Kolomoisky and his alleged business associates such as the Surkis brothers have been on the offensive, filing hundreds of court cases challenging the legality of nationalization and the bank's subsequent bail-in, when deposits were converted into shares.
Overseas, PrivatBank has scored important legal victories against Kolomoisky in London. Most recently, the bank sued Kolomoisky for $600 million in Israel.
Dylan Carter is a staff writer at the Kyiv Independent. He studied modern languages at the University College of London and Paris Sorbonne IV. He worked as an assistant lecturer at the Kyiv School of Economics and at Ukrinform before joining the Kyiv Post in June 2021.
