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.
"Think of the hundreds of thousands of lives that will be saved as this never ending 'bloodbath' hopefully comes to an end... I will continue to work with both sides to make sure that it happens."
Russian citizens drafted as part of Russian President Vladimir Putin's mobilization are seen being dispatched to combat areas on Oct. 10, 2022. Photo for illustrative purposes. (Getty Images)
Russia can more openly carry out mobilization now that the election is over and Russian President Vladimir Putin has secured another term, said Andrii Yusov, a spokesperson for Ukraine's military intelligence, on national television on March 18.
At the same time, Yusov said in comments cited by Liga that mobilization has continued in Russia throughout the campaign and election.
The three-day Russian presidential election concluded on March 17 and resulted in 87.2% of the vote going toward Putin. Both Ukrainian and foreign officials previously suggested that Putin would likely hold off on further rounds of mobilization until after the election had concluded.
The large-scale wave of mobilization in fall 2022 caused hundreds of thousands of Russians, perhaps more than a million, to flee the country to avoid being drafted. It also sparked protests and other signs of public discontent at home. Despite Putin's announcement at the end of October 2022 that mobilization had ended, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) wrote in December 2022 that the initial mobilization decree remained in force.
Now that the elections have passed and Putin has been reelected, Russia may have less cause to worry about internal opposition, and mobilization can continue more openly, Yusov said.
Vadym Skibitsky, deputy head of Ukraine's military intelligence, said in January 2024 that Russia is mobilizing around 30,000 people every month, or around 1,000-1,100 recruits daily.
Oleg Sukhov
