The EU plans to unveil on May 14 its next package of sanctions imposed against Russia over its aggression against Ukraine, an EU official told the Kyiv Independent on condition of anonymity.
Polish truckers plan to restrict freight traffic at the Yahodyn-Dorohusk checkpoint on the Ukrainian border, Ukraine's State Border Guard said on May 12.
"If the Russians are using this level of specialists in urban combat, they are probably facing some difficulties," Ivan Petrychak, spokesperson for the 24th Separate Mechanized Brigade, said.
Previously, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk accused the Russian intelligence services of orchestrating a May 2024 arson attack on the Marywilska shopping centre in Warsaw.
"Perhaps in some areas, the intensity decreased slightly to create an image of compliance with their own announcement. But in reality, (Russia) continued attacks every day, using all available weapons — including aircraft to drop guided bombs on Ukraine," Andrii Demchenko, spokesperson for Ukraine’s State Border Guard Service, said.
Beijing supports all efforts toward achieving peace in Ukraine, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said on May 12 when asked about Kyiv and Europe's proposal for a 30-day truce.
"I invited His Holiness to make an apostolic visit to Ukraine. Such a visit would bring real hope to all believers and to all our people," Zelensky said.
Presidential Office chief Andriy Yermak voiced doubt about leading negotiations with anyone from Russia except President Vladimir Putin, implying only the Russian leader can make real decisions.
This includes at least seven people injured in drone attacks overnight on May 12, a date from which Kyiv and its allies put forward a demand for a 30-day unconditional truce, a step that Moscow continues to reject.
"When European unity becomes inconvenient, disinformation goes so far as to make a simple tissue look like drugs," the Elysee Palace reacted to a fake story pushed by Russia.
The comments came after Trump urged Ukraine to agree to direct negotiations with Russia, which has invited Kyiv to peace talks in Istanbul on May 15, without first agreeing to halt military operations.
A Russian drone hit a civilian freight train in Donetsk Oblast on May 12 and injured its driver, Ukrainian Railways said amid Kyiv's calls for a ceasefire.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba speaks during a press conference on Oct. 2, 2023, in Kyiv, Ukraine. (Vitalii Nosach/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images)
The often-repeated narrative that "Ukraine rejected a peace deal offered by Russia in the spring of 2022" is "one of the favorite lies promoted by Russia," said Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba in a video address posted on X on May 14.
The failed peace negotiations between Russia and Ukraine, which were held in Istanbul shortly after the beginning of the full-scale war, have been a regular feature of disinformation campaigns spread by Russia and its allies. One popular theory, which is unsupported by accounts of the talks at the time, is that former U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson sabotaged the negotiations.
Kuleba said that Russia is intent on pushing this unsubstantiated narrative because it wants to "shift the blame for the war...to Ukraine."
"They want people to forget that it was Russia that started the full-scale war in February 2022 and instead focus on the talks at the end of March 2022."
Kuleba acknowledged that Russian and Ukrainian delegates did indeed meet in the early months of the full-scale war and discussed how to bring an end to the fighting.
But Kuleba argued that the respective positions were "so far away" and the "Russian demands were so bizarre that the prospect of a real solution was not even remotely in sight."
Kuleba added that the narrative that Johnson somehow sabotaged the talks also does not match the timeline because the negotiations continued for months after Johnson visited Istanbul.
The real figure responsible for the lack of peace in Ukraine, Kuleba concluded, is Russian President Vladimir Putin, who "has been ruining peace in Ukraine for more than a decade."
Nate Ostiller is a former News Editor at the Kyiv Independent. He works on special projects as a researcher and writer for The Red Line Podcast, covering Eastern Europe and Eurasia, and focused primarily on digital misinformation, memory politics, and ethnic conflict. Nate has a Master’s degree in Russian and Eurasian Studies from the University of Glasgow, and spent two years studying abroad at Kyiv-Mohyla Academy in Ukraine. Originally from the USA, he is currently based in Tbilisi, Georgia.
Martin Fornusek
