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.
The building of Russia's embassy in Riga, Latvia on March 23, 2018, (Ilmars Znotins/AFP via Getty Images)
Latvia summoned the Russian Embassy's charge d'affaires to express protest after a Russian drone armed with explosives crashed in Latvia for the first time, the Latvian Foreign Ministry announced on Sept. 9.
The charge d'affaires "was requested to provide a comprehensive explanation of the incident, in which an unmanned aerial vehicle illegally violated Latvia's airspace while also carrying explosives," the Latvian Foreign Ministry said.
The Russian diplomat "confirmed that he would inform the Russian Foreign Ministry about the situation."
The Latvian authorities are currently conducting an "in-depth investigation into the circumstances of the incident," the Foreign Ministry said.
Lieutenant General Leonids Kalnins, the commander-in-chief of the Latvian Armed Forces, confirmed on Sept. 9 that the drone was heading towards a target in Ukraine before it entered Latvia via Belarus.
The explosive that the drone was carrying did not detonate on impact, but was deactivated by Latvian personnel.
Russian drones have previously crashed in Romania and its non-NATO neighbor, Moldova. Other drones and missiles have also violated Polish airspace on several occasions.
After a likely Russian drone flew into Polish airspace on Aug. 26 amid a mass attack on Ukraine, Polish Brigadier General Tomasz Drewniak said that Russia is potentially testing Poland's air defense system.
"By releasing the device onto our territory, the Russians are checking how our system is raised, at what time we raise the alert forces into the air," General Drewniak told RMF24.
Poland's reaction to the drone entering its airspace can provide Russia with "a lot of valuable information, which is then useful for planning any operation," General Drewniak said.
Martin Fornusek
