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).
Illustrative image: A German-operated MIM-104 Patriot missile fires an interceptor missile during Operation Red Arrow exercise in Greece on October 15, 2008 (Peter Mueller/Bundeswehr)
Engineers of Metinvest, Ukraine’s largest steel producer, developed an armored protection for the control module of the Patriot air defense system, the company announced on Jan. 3.
Ukraine has received at least three Patriot systems from Germany, one from the U.S., and one from Romania. Other countries, like the Netherlands and Spain, delivered individual launchers or missiles.
Throughout the full-scale war, there were several reports of damage to Patriot systems during Russia's aerial attacks. Ukraine also uses mock-ups to protect the Patriots.
"In a month and a half, we created a project from scratch and made a shield from Metinvest's Ukrainian armor steel for the Patriot air defense system crew, which guarantees protection against debris damage to both the defenders and the air defense control center," said Oleksandr Myronenko, a COO of Metinvest Group.
Weighing over 2.6 tons, the armor consists of nearly 200 elements, including armored steel plates up to 8 milimeters thick.
According to the company, the weight of the armor does not affect the system's functionality or mobility.
The company is also producing steel shields for T-64 and T-72 tanks, U.S.-made M1 Abrams tanks, and Bradley infantry fighting vehicles, and is preparing to integrate shields into various Leopard 2 tank modifications.
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.
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