The Kremlin said the leaders held a detailed discussion about the Russian initiative and Erdogan expressed full support, reiterating Turkey’s readiness to provide a venue and assist in organizing the negotiations.
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.
Ukraine's Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin and Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court Karim Khan in Kyiv on Sept. 14, 2023. (Photo: Prosecutor General's Office)
The International Criminal Court (ICC) has opened a field office in Kyiv, Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin announced on Sept. 14.
The office has been set up to "increase the effectiveness and efficiency of responding to the crimes that Russia continues to commit against Ukraine and Ukrainians every day," Kostin said.
The office is the largest ICC field office outside of The Hague, according to the Prosecutor General. The court has seven field offices around the world.
Kostin thanked Karim Khan, the chief prosecutor of the ICC, for the "colossal work" the court carries out to bring criminals to justice.
"We are doing our utmost to ensure that the ICC experts can see the aftermath of the aggressor's crimes with their own eyes and draw their independent conclusions," Kostin said.
"Unlike Russia's criminal regime, Ukraine has nothing to hide," he added.
In March, the ICC issued arrest warrants for Russian President Vladimir Putin and Maria Lvova-Belova, the Russian official overseeing the forced deportations of Ukrainian children to Russia.
The Ukrainian government has identified around 20,000 Ukrainian children who have been forcibly deported from Russian-occupied territories.
The ICC believes that Putin “bears individual criminal responsibility” as the leader of Russia for the crimes committed against Ukrainian children.
In response, Russia issued an arrest warrant for Khan in May. The court called the measure "unacceptable" and "coercive measures," and said that Russia's actions would not stop it from trying to hold war criminals accountable.
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