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.
A captive named Umit allegedly agreed to serve in the Russian army in exchange for Russian citizenship and a monetary reward of 2 million rubles ($25,000).
Ukrainian military personnel receives armored maneuver training on German-made Leopard 2 battle tanks at the Spanish army's training center of San Gregorio in Zaragoza on March 13, 2023. (OSCAR DEL POZO/AFP via Getty Images)
Denmark and the Netherlands have signed contracts to purchase 14 Leopard 2 tanks from the German arms manufacturer Rheinmetall for Ukraine, the German newspaper Handelsblatt wrote on June 15, citing NATO officials.
According to the news outlet, the two countries paid a "three-digit million sum."
The German government was also involved in the deal, as its consent is necessary for exporting domestic-produced arms, Handelsblatt added.
The Dutch and the Danish governments revealed the plans to purchase more than a dozen of German-made Leopard 2 tanks in April, promising to deliver them by "early 2024."
Amid Ukraine's ongoing counteroffensive, Russian sources began to share alleged footage of destroyed Western equipment, including Leopard 2 tanks.
According to the open-source investigation group Oryx, Ukrainian forces might have lost one Leopard 2A4 and three Leopard 2A6s, as well as three Leopard 2R mine-clearing tanks.
Kyiv did not reveal the extent of its losses and Berlin said it has "no information" regarding the destroyed Leopards. However, Ukraine's Deputy Foreign Minister Andrii Melnyk has called on Germany to provide further tanks and other armored vehicles to offset the current losses.
Martin Fornusek is a news editor at the Kyiv Independent. He has previously worked as a news content editor at the media company Newsmatics and is a contributor to Euromaidan Press. He was also volunteering as an editor and translator at the Czech-language version of Ukraïner. Martin studied at Masaryk University in Brno, Czechia, holding a bachelor's degree in security studies and history and a master's degree in conflict and democracy studies.
Martin Fornusek
