This week, the world watched in anticipation for Russia’s Victory Day parade after President Volodymyr Zelensky commented that he could not guarantee the safety of those attending. Meanwhile, the European Union moves one step forward to banning Russian gas from the European continent. It is also revealed this week that U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has fallen out of step with the White House.
"(Russian) President (Vladimir) Putin... doesn't want to have a ceasefire agreement with Ukraine, but rather wants to meet on Thursday, in Turkey, to negotiate a possible end to the bloodbath. Ukraine should agree to this, immediately," U.S. President Donald Trump said.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio will travel to to Antalya, Turkey, for a NATO foreign ministers’ meeting from May 14–16, where he is expected to address the war in Ukraine and push for stronger Allied defense commitments.
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."
International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach speaks on the first day of the executive board meeting of the IOC ahead of the upcoming 141st IOC session in Mumbai on October 12, 2023. (Indranil Mukherjee/AFP)
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has suspended the Russian Olympic Committee "with immediate effect" for seizing control of Ukrainian sporting organizations, the organization said on Oct. 12.
On Oct. 5, the Russian Olympic Committee took the unilateral decision to recognize the regional sporting organizations of Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk, and Zaporizhzhia as under its own authority, despite the fact these organizations legally fall under the authority of the Ukrainian Olympic Committee.
This decision "violates the territorial integrity" of Ukraine and therefore "constitutes a breach of the Olympic Charter," the IOC said.
The suspension means that the Russian Olympic Committee is "no longer entitled to operate as a National Olympic Committee" and cannot receive funding from the Olympic Movement.
The IOC already announced on July 26 that no official invite has been extended to Russia and Belarus for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.
However, the IOC has not yet made a decision on whether individual Russian or Belarusian athletes can compete at the Olympics under a neutral flag.
In March 2023, the IOC recommended that Russian and Belarusian athletes be allowed to participate in international competitions, provided they do so as "individual neutral athletes."
The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) said on Sept. 29 that Russians will be able to compete as individual or neutral athletes at the 2024 Paralympics.
Nate Ostiller
