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.
Portuguese Air Force F-16 fighter jets during NATO's Baltic Air Policing Mission in Lithuanian airspace near Siauliai on May 23, 2023. (AFP via Getty Images)
Ukraine could use F-16 fighter jets to protect grain shipping lanes in the Black Sea, Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba told France 24 on July 25.
"If we have F-16s, we will not depend on Russian blackmail in exporting Ukrainian grain to global markets," Kuleba said.
"The sooner we receive them, the sooner we will be able to launch a new corridor, protected, efficient, that will act, that will function without any hindrances and 100 million tons of Ukrainian grain will make it to the global market, stabilizing the prices."
At the Vilnius NATO summit, Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov signed a memorandum with 11 countries outlining the F-16 training schedule for Ukrainian pilots. According to the White House, Ukraine will receive the jets before the end of 2023.
Kuleba further said in the interview that Kyiv keeps trying to revive the Black Sea Grain Initiative through talks with Turkey and the U.N. At the same time, Ukraine is considering an alternative way of exporting its grain.
In particular, Kuleba mentioned expanding the EU's solidarity lanes, instituted in May 2022, as an option.
The EU said that more than 45 million tonnes of grain, oilseed, and other products have been exported via the solidarity lanes since the start of the invasion.
Commenting on a media report that Russia intends to work with Qatar and Turkey to import Russian grain into Africa, thus supplementing Ukrainian products, Kuleba said such a move would be "shameful" to any country taking part in the scheme.
The minister noted that through the destruction of Ukrainian ports, Russia is blackmailing the whole world with a food crisis and hunger.
After its withdrawal from the Black Sea Grain Initiative on July 17, Russian forces began targeting Ukrainian agricultural infrastructure and food stocks, with Odesa Oblast suffering regular attacks.
Moscow also announced that vessels sailing toward Ukraine's ports will be treated as carriers of military cargo and that all ships on the Black Sea will be inspected by Russian forces for possible military shipments.
In turn, Kyiv said that any ships heading toward Russia-controlled ports will also be treated as carriers of military supplies.
Martin Fornusek is a news editor at the Kyiv Independent. He has previously worked as a news content editor at the media company Newsmatics and is a contributor to Euromaidan Press. He was also volunteering as an editor and translator at the Czech-language version of Ukraïner. Martin studied at Masaryk University in Brno, Czechia, holding a bachelor's degree in security studies and history and a master's degree in conflict and democracy studies.
Anna Romandash
