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.
French President Emmanuel Macron speaks to the media ahead of a Weimar Triangle meeting to discuss the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine in Berlin, Germany on Feb. 8, 2022. (Hannibal Hanschke/Pool/Getty Images)
Relations with Russia should be reconsidered after Moscow’s full-scale war against Ukraine is over, French President Emmanuel Macron said on Sept. 22.
Speaking at an event in Paris, the French president urged people to imagine "tomorrow's peace" in Europe in a new form, and in a new reality.
"We will have to think about a new form of organization of Europe and rethink our relations with Russia after the war in Ukraine," Macron said.
In the early months of Russia's full-scale invasion, Macron was criticized over his calls to avoid "the humiliation" of Russia, but later he hardened his stance.
Another of Macron's initiatives, sending military instructors to Ukraine, has reportedly been supported by some countries but so far seen no development.
The French president said that building a new international order is "the biggest challenge" and that today it is "incomplete and unfair."
"We need an order where some countries cannot block others, and where countries are represented with dignity, and therefore this should be done in much fairer bodies, such as the U.N., the World Bank or the International Monetary Fund," Macron added.
As Russia has become more isolated since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, and has increasingly depleted its preexisting supplies of military equipment, it has deepened its ties with China, Iran and North Korea.
Yet, some Western countries, such as Hungary and Slovakia, suggested that they should be prepared for normalization of relations with Moscow.
Kateryna Denisova works as a News Editor at the Kyiv Independent. She previously worked as a news editor at the NV media outlet for four years, covering mainly Ukrainian and international politics. Kateryna holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Taras Shevchenko University of Kyiv. She also was a fellow at journalism schools in the Czech Republic and Germany.
Jakub Parusinski
