Beijing supports all efforts toward achieving peace in Ukraine, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said on May 12 when asked about Kyiv and Europe's proposal for a 30-day truce.
"I invited His Holiness to make an apostolic visit to Ukraine. Such a visit would bring real hope to all believers and to all our people," Zelensky said.
Previously, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk accused the Russian intelligence services of orchestrating a May 2024 arson attack on the Marywilska shopping centre in Warsaw.
Presidential Office chief Andriy Yermak voiced doubt about leading negotiations with anyone from Russia except President Vladimir Putin, implying only the Russian leader can make real decisions.
This includes at least seven people injured in drone attacks overnight on May 12, a date from which Kyiv and its allies put forward a demand for a 30-day unconditional truce, a step that Moscow continues to reject.
"When European unity becomes inconvenient, disinformation goes so far as to make a simple tissue look like drugs," the Elysee Palace reacted to a fake story pushed by Russia.
The comments came after Trump urged Ukraine to agree to direct negotiations with Russia, which has invited Kyiv to peace talks in Istanbul on May 15, without first agreeing to halt military operations.
A Russian drone hit a civilian freight train in Donetsk Oblast on May 12 and injured its driver, Ukrainian Railways said amid Kyiv's calls for a ceasefire.
Moscow and Hanoi agreed to negotiate and sign agreements to construct nuclear power plants in Vietnam, the two countries said in a joint statement on May 11.
The sanctions appear to be in response to Russia's rejection of a 30-day ceasefire that the U.K., alongside Ukraine, France, Germany, and Poland, demanded during a visit to Kyiv on May 10.
"We now know for sure that the great fire of the Marywilska shopping centre in Warsaw was caused by arson ordered by the Russian special services," Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on X. "Some of the perpetrators have already been detained, all the others are identified and searched for."
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.
German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius (C) arrives for a two-day meeting of the alliance's Defense Ministers at the NATO headquarters in Brussels on Feb. 14, 2023. (KENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP via Getty Images)
Germany has signed contracts with the Rheinmetall concern to renew the manufacture of ammunition for Gepard self-propelled anti-aircraft guns, which it earlier supplied to Ukraine, according to German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius, cited by Reuters.
"We will quickly start our own production of Gepard ammunition at Rheinmetall. I am very happy we have been able to guarantee the delivery of this important part of air defense," Pistorius said on Feb. 14 before a meeting of NATO ministers in Brussels.
According to the German Federal Government, Berlin has already supplied 32 Gepard guns to Ukraine, including about 6,000 rounds of ammunition.
Pistorius promised five more Gepards for Ukraine on Feb. 7, but his country has been struggling for months to find additional munitions for these anti-aircraft tanks, which its own military had decommissioned in 2010.
Germany will also provide Ukraine with more guided missiles and five Pioneer Panzer 2A1 Dachs combat support vehicles by the end of February, according to Pistorius.
Gepard guns have become an effective weapon against Iranian Shahed-136 drones Russia is using to attack Ukraine's infrastructure, German Embassy in Ukraine said in November.
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