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.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said he will meet with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara, but said both leaders are ready to fly to Istanbul if Russian President Vladimir Putin chooses to attend the talks there.
An F-16 aircraft is pictured after the first delivery of Norway's old F-16 fighter aircraft to Romania at Rygge Air Force Base, Norway on Nov. 28, 2023. (Ole Berg-Rusten/NTB/AFP via Getty Images)
Ukraine expects to receive the first six F-16 fighter jets this summer and up to 20 of them by the end of 2024, Bloomberg reported on July 12, citing undisclosed sources in NATO.
During this year's NATO summit, held on July 9-11 in Washington, the U.S., Denmark, and the Netherlands announced that the first F-16 fighter jets were "on their way" to Ukraine.
NATO is yet concerned about logistical difficulties in maintaining these aircraft and the lack of suitable runways in Ukraine, according to Bloomberg.
"The challenges have been so severe that they've raised doubts about the wisdom of sending the jets to Ukraine and whether doing so now amounts to a very costly show of support to President Volodymyr Zelensky," the article read.
A NATO official who spoke to Bloomberg on condition of anonymity listed three main reasons that raised doubts about the aircraft's delivery to Ukraine.
The fighter jets must be reconfigured depending on their tasks, such as reconnaissance or combat, while the logistics of supporting the planes are complex, from the need for spare parts to maintenance demands to finding engineers, according to the source.
Ukraine also does not have enoughlong, high-quality runways required for the F-16s, as well as shelters to protect them from Russian strikes, the source added.
Another NATO official told Bloomberg that Ukraine is trying to achieve "in a matter of months" what usually takes "three to four years."
"The result is that Ukraine may be able to field a squadron of F-16s, anything from 15 to 24 jets, well short of the 300 its leaders have called for," Bloomberg said, citing an undisclosed source.
Ukraine was expected to receive the first F-16 jets this summer, a year after Denmark and the Netherlands established the "fighter jet coalition" with nine other countries at the previous NATO summit in Vilnius in July 2023.
In addition to the Netherlands and Denmark, Kyiv also expects to receive fighter jets from Belgium and Norway.
Norway announced on July 10 that it will donate six F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine, with the deliveries starting this year.
Kateryna Hodunova is a News Editor at the Kyiv Independent. She previously worked as a sports journalist in several Ukrainian outlets and was the deputy chief editor at Suspilne Sport. Kateryna covered the 2022 Olympics in Beijing and was included in the Special Mentions list at the AIPS Sport Media Awards. She holds a bachelor's degree in political journalism from Taras Shevchenko University and a master's degree in political science from the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy.
Chris York
