The publications' latest report covers the period of February 24, 2022 to May 8, 2025. Since it was last updated at the end of April, 2,857 additional Russian military personnel have been confirmed killed.
Hungary cancelled a meeting planned for May 12 with a Ukrainian delegation on the rights of national minorities, Hungary's Deputy Foreign Minister said on May 11, amid a deepening spying scandal between the two countries.
Three were injured in Russia's Kursk Oblast when the town of Rylsk was allegedly struck by a missile attack on May 11, local governor Alexander Khinshtein claimed.
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.
U.S. President Donald Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron during a joint press conference at the White House on Feb. 24, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)
French President Emmanuel Macron did not receive any specific security guarantees from the United States regarding a plan to deploy European peacekeepers to monitor a future ceasefire in Ukraine, the Financial Times (FT) reported on Feb. 25.
Macron visited U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington on Feb. 24 to discuss Ukraine's postwar security options in the event of a peace deal with Russia. Trump claimed that such a deal could come "within weeks."
While Macron spoke optimistically about his meeting with Trump, calling it "a turning point" in U.S. support for European peacekeeping efforts, officials told the FT that Washington offered no specific guarantees.
There is "no definitive agreement" as to how the U.S. will provide security assurances for peacekeeping forces in Ukraine, a French official said.
Macron and U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who will meet with Trump later this week, are coordinating on a proposal for Ukraine's postwar security that involves a European peacekeeping force that would rely heavily on air power and be backed by the U.S. The plan would reportedly include a small land force of 30,000 European troops.
Starmer has said that this plan requires a U.S. "backstop" to deter future Russian aggression.
Following their meeting on Feb. 24, both Macron and Trump signaled openness to U.S. support for the European peacekeeping proposal.
"There are Europeans that are ready to engage to provide for these security guarantees," Macron said.
"Now there's a clear American message that the U.S. as an ally is ready to provide that solidarity for that approach."
When asked if the U.S. would support European troops, Trump said that it would, without getting into details.
"We will have a backing of some kind. Obviously European countries are going to be involved," he said.
Trump then said that Europe would not likely "need much backing" because he did not expect Russia to violate a ceasefire agreement. Trump also said that Russian President Vladimir Putin would accept the presence of European troops in Ukraine, a term the Kremlin has repeatedly opposed.
The French official who spoke to the FT said that despite the lack of concrete security guarantees on the table at this stage, Trump appeared open to the idea of a U.S. backstop.
"There is no objection from President Trump to the Americans giving security guarantees," the official said.
Abbey Fenbert is a senior news editor at the Kyiv Independent. She is a freelance writer, editor, and playwright with an MFA from Boston University. Abbey served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Ukraine from 2008-2011.
Natalia Yermak
