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."
Rob Bauer, chair of the military committee at the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), during a Bloomberg Television interview on the opening day of the Munich Security Conference in Munich, Germany, on Feb. 16, 2024. (Alex Kraus/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Dutch Admiral Rob Bauer, the chair of the NATO Military Committee, visited Kyiv on March 21, the first time a NATO military delegation has visited Kyiv since the full-scale invasion began in February 2022.
Bauer gave a speech at the Kyiv Security Forum, in which he said that his visit "is testament to the fact that NATO and Ukraine are closer than they have ever been."
"The Swedish flag will not be the only blue and yellow flag at the NATO headquarters," Bauer said.
Sweden joined NATO on March 7, after both Sweden and Finland applied for NATO membership in 2022, abandoning their non-alignment policy in response to Russian aggression against Ukraine.
"Russia’s war against Ukraine has never been about any real security threat coming from either Ukraine or NATO. This war is about President (Vladimir) Putin fearing something much more powerful than any physical weapon on earth: democracy."
Bauer also warned against pessimism about the state of the war, arguing that while "the world may have been overly optimistic in 2023, we should not make the same mistake by becoming overly pessimistic in 2024."
"Pessimists don’t win wars...with our help, Ukraine can and will prevail."
Ukraine applied for a fast-track NATO accession in September 2022 after Russia claimed the illegal annexation of four Ukrainian regions. Ukraine's prospects of joining the alliance while the full-scale war is ongoing remain low.
Bauer told reporters in January that civilians in NATO countries should be prepared for the prospect of an all-out war with Russia in the next 20 years.
"We have to realize it’s not a given that we are in peace. And that’s why we (NATO) are preparing for a conflict with Russia," he added.
Abbey Fenbert
