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."
U.S. State Department Spokesperson Tammy Bruce called for "concrete proposals from both sides" in order for Washington to "move forward" in peace negotiations.
"If they speak to each other in Russian, he doesn't know what they are saying," one Western official told NBC News. Michael McFaul, former U.S. ambassador to Russia, called Witkoff's approach "a very bad idea."
Tougher sanctions "should be applied to (Russia's) banking and energy sectors, targeting fossil fuels, oil, and the shadow fleet," the leaders of Ukraine, the U.K., France, Germany, and Poland said in a joint statement.
"Russia is ready for negotiations without any preconditions," Putin claimed in an address marking the end of the three-day Victory Day ceasefire. He invited Ukraine to begin talks in Istanbul on May 15.
While serving as a bishop in Peru, Robert Prevost, now Pope Leo XIV, called the full-scale war "a true invasion, imperialist in nature, where Russia seeks to conquer territory for reasons of power."
U.S. President Joe Biden (L) and Russian President Vladimir Putin hold a video conference on Dec. 7, 2021 regarding the security crisis caused by Russia's preparations for a potential invasion of Ukraine. (Kremlin.ru)
U.S. President Joe Biden warned his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin that the U.S. and its allies "would respond with strong economic and other measures" against Moscow if it launches a military escalation against Ukraine.
The two leaders held a two-hour-long video conference on Dec. 7 to discuss the acute security crisis that unfolded in November when Russia amassed nearly 100,000 troops poised to surround Ukraine, raising fears of a full-fledged invasion.
The high-stakes talks are expected by many to be a turning point in the grave crisis instigated by the Kremlin.
"Biden reiterated his support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and called for de-escalation and a return to diplomacy," the White House announced following the meeting.
"The two presidents tasked their teams to follow up, and the U.S. will do so in close coordination with allies and partners."
Biden and Putin also discussed the strategic stability between the two powers, as well as ransomware and joint work on regional issues such as Iran. Neither made any personal statements following the dialogue.
Prior to the meeting, Kremin spokesman Dmitriy Peskov asserted that an immediate breakthrough in U.S.-Russian relations following the conference was unlikely.
Earlier in the day, Biden also held a video conference with key European allies, including Germany, Italy, France, and the United Kingdom regarding Ukraine and the Russian military buildup.
It was earlier announced that Biden would have a call with President Volodymyr Zelensky, following the conversation with Putin. Biden will reportedly talk to Zelensky on Dec. 9.
Amid the preparation for the talks with Putin, Biden on Dec. 3 vowed to take a "comprehensive and meaningful set of initiatives" to make a Russian attack difficult in the event of major escalation. Biden, however, did not specify any particular steps contemplated.
On Dec. 7, Bloomberg reported that in case of Russian invasion, the White House intended to push Germany into closing the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project aggressively advocated by the Kremlin.
Moreover, the U.S. administration has also prepared a plan to cut Russia off from SWIFT, the international banking payment system, and impose crushing sanctions on the inner circle of Russian elites and energy producers, to counter a possible invasion of Ukraine, according to CNN.
Nonetheless, according to unnamed CNN sources, the U.S. administration acknowledges its limited options to totally deter the invasion and is contemplating a contingency plan to evacuate U.S. citizens from Ukraine in the event of Russia's attack.
According to the Ukrainian intelligence, Russia might employ over 94,000 troops to launch a full-scale invasion and seize much of Ukraine's territory in the south and east to the Dnipro River, which might happen in early 2022. Ukraine's Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov said on Dec. 3 that the invasion is probable though not yet imminent.
Illia Ponomarenko was a defense and security reporter at the Kyiv Independent in 2021-2023. He has reported about the war in eastern Ukraine since the conflict’s earliest days. He covers national security issues, as well as military technologies, production, and defense reforms in Ukraine. Besides, he gets deployed to the war zone of Donbas with Ukrainian combat formations. He has also had deployments to Palestine and the Democratic Republic of the Congo as an embedded reporter with UN peacekeeping forces. Illia won the Alfred Friendly Press Partners fellowship and was selected to work as USA Today's guest reporter at the U.S. Department of Defense.
