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.
Hungary's Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto attends the 10th Summit of the Heads of State of the Organization of Turkic States on Nov. 3, 2023. (Arda Kucukkaya/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Ukraine's hardened sanctions against Lukoil, Russia's second-largest oil producer, has stopped the company's deliveries to Hungary, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto claimed on July 16.
Ukraine strengthened sanctions against Lukoil in June 2024, effectively removing the possibility that Ukraine can be a transit country for its oil.
Szijjarto made the comments after meeting with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov on the sidelines of a U.N. meeting in New York.
"There's now a legal situation in Ukraine based on which Lukoil is not currently delivering to Hungary," Szijjarto claimed, according to Bloomberg.
"We are now working on a legal solution that will enable us to resume supplies because Russian oil is important from the perspective of our energy security," Russian state news agency TASS quoted Szijjarto as saying.
Szijjarto has previously said that 80% of its crude oil supplies in 2022 came from Russia.
Hungary has maintained close ties with Russia since the February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, and Szijjarto has made regular trips to Russia, unlike other European foreign ministers.
Elsa Court is the audience development manager at the Kyiv Independence. She previously worked as a news editor at the Kyiv Independent and was previously an intern at the Kyiv Post. She has a Master’s in Conflict Studies and Human Rights from Utrecht University. Elsa is originally from the UK.
Martin Fornusek
