Andriy Yermak, Zelensky's chief of staff, said that the new pontiff had a phone call with Zelensky on Monday, during which the pope expressed willingness to facilitate meetings between global leaders and vowed to support efforts for "a just and lasting peace."
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.
Servicemen of the 43rd Artillery Brigade fire a 155mm self-propelled howitzer Panzerhaubitze 2000 (PzH 2000), towards Russian positions at a front line near Bakhmut, Donetsk region on June 15, 2023. (Anatolii Stepanov / AFP via Getty Images)
Ukrainian troops are continuing counteroffensive operations in at least three sectors of the front line as of July 24, according to the Institute for the Study of War's latest update.
Citing Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar, the ISW report indicated that over the past week, Ukrainian forces have advanced gradually on the southern flank of Bakhmut and in the Berdiansk (western Donetsk-eastern Zaporizhia Oblast border area) as well as in Melitopol (western Zaporizhzhia Oblast directions.
Maliar also noted that these counteroffensive actions are taking place against the backdrop of continued Russian offensive in the Kupyansk, Lyman, Avdiivka, and Marinka directions.
Russian sources claimed that Ukrainian forces conducted limited ground attacks in western Donetsk Oblast south of Velyka Novosilka and advanced south of Orikhiv in western Zaporizhia Oblast.
The Ukrainian General Staff indicated that Ukrainian troops are continuing offensive actions in the Berdiansk and Melitopol directions but did not specify locations or outcomes, the ISW noted.
Olena Goncharova is the Head of North America desk at The Kyiv Independent, where she has previously worked as a development manager and Canadian correspondent. She first joined the Kyiv Post, Ukraine's oldest English-language newspaper, as a staff writer in January 2012 and became the newspaper’s Canadian correspondent in June 2018. She is based in Edmonton, Alberta. Olena has a master’s degree in publishing and editing from the Institute of Journalism in Taras Shevchenko National University in Kyiv. Olena was a 2016 Alfred Friendly Press Partners fellow who worked for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette for six months. The program is administered by the University of Missouri School of Journalism in Columbia.
Igor Kossov
