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.
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 picture released by the German and Latvian Air Forces on Sept. 22, 2024. (German Air Force / X)
NATO jets intercepted six Russian aircraft flying over the Baltic Sea without transponders or a flight plan over the past two days, the Latvian Air Force reported late on Sept. 21.
Transponders are an electronic device that helps maintain safe air traffic in international airspace. Russian jets regularly enter the airspace above the Baltics with transponders switched off, likely to test the response of NATO states.
The Russian jets were identified over the Baltic Sea on Sept. 20 and Sept. 21 and escorted by NATO Eurofighter jets as part of NATO's Baltic Air Policing mission, the Latvian Air Force said.
According to the German Air Force, a group of five jets were identified on the afternoon of Sept. 21, consisting of one Sukhoi Su-35 and four Sukhoi Su-30MKIs.
In August, the German Air Force reported that Russian pilots who were detected heading toward Latvian airspace "behaved uncooperatively but not aggressively" when intercepted by NATO's Baltic Air Policing mission.
"The transponders were switched off, and the pilots did not respond to radio requests," a German Air Force spokesperson said.
Earlier in September, a Russian Shahed-type drone equipped with an explosive crashed in Latvia, the first confirmed case of a Russian drone crashing on Latvian soil.
Lieutenant General Leonids Kalnins, the commander-in-chief of the Latvian Armed Forces, said on Sept. 9 that the drone was heading towards a target in Ukraine before it entered Latvia via Belarus.
The drone eventually crashed in Gaigalava parish in Rezekne district, 85 kilometers (52 miles) northwest of the Belarusian border, Kalnins said.
Chris York
