Andriy Yermak, Zelensky's chief of staff, said that the new pontiff had a phone call with Zelensky on Monday, during which the pope expressed willingness to facilitate meetings between global leaders and vowed to support efforts for "a just and lasting peace."
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.
Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) looks at Russia Today (RT) Editor-in-Chief Margarita Simonyan (L) during the Saint Petersburg Economic Forum SPIEF 2022, on June 17, 2022, in Saint Petersburg, Russia. (Contributor/Getty Images)
Russia is using information operations to discredit democratic elections worldwide, according to a U.S. intelligence report sent to around 100 countries on Oct. 20, several media outlets reported.
While Moscow's past strategy focused on backing specific candidates, their new methods seek to sow distrust toward the electoral process, portraying elections as dysfunctional and their results illegitimate, the document said.
"Russia is pursuing operations to degrade public confidence in the integrity of elections themselves," the U.S. said in a cable sent to embassies of around 100 countries in the Americas, Europe, Asia, and Africa, and obtained by the Associated Press.
The Kremlin was reportedly encouraged by its past success in amplifying disinformation related to the COVID-19 pandemic and the U.S. 2020 presidential elections, where unsuccessful Republican candidate Donald Trump spread unfounded accusations of electoral fraud.
"Success breeds more, and we definitely see the U.S. elections as a catalyst," a senior State Department official told Reuters.
The U.S. intelligence analysis of Russian information operations between January 2020 and December 2022 reportedly discovered that Russia engaged "in the concentrated effort" to undermine confidence in at least 11 elections in nine democracies.
Less pronounced Russian activities were said to target another 17 democratic countries.
"This is a global phenomenon," said the assessment. "Our information indicates that senior Russian government officials, including the Kremlin, see value in this type of influence operation and perceive it to be effective."
Moscow's range of tools for such operations reportedly includes internet trolls, social media influences, proxy websites linked to Russian intelligence, and Russian state-run propaganda outlets like Russia Today or Sputnik, the Voice of America said.
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.
