Andriy Yermak, Zelensky's chief of staff, said that the new pontiff had a phone call with Zelensky on Monday, during which the pope expressed willingness to facilitate meetings between global leaders and vowed to support efforts for "a just and lasting peace."
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.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg speaks at a press conference ahead of the annual NATO Summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, on July 10, 2023. (Photo: Andrey Rudakov/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
The NATO-Ukraine Council met on July 26 to discuss the security situation in the Black Sea region following Russia's one-sided termination of the Black Sea Grain Initiative.
This is the second time the Council has met since its inaugural meeting at the NATO summit in Vilnius.
"Allies and Ukraine strongly condemned Russia's decision to withdraw from the Black Sea grain deal and its deliberate attempts to stop Ukraine's agricultural exports on which hundreds of millions of people worldwide depend," NATO said in its statement.
"They also condemned Russia's recent missile attacks on Odesa, Mykolaiv, and other port cities, including Moscow's cynical drone attack on the Ukrainian grain storage facility in the Danube port city of Reni, very close to the Romanian border."
After its withdrawal from the Black Sea Grain Initiative on July 17, Russia launched a series of strikes against southern Ukraine, targeting ports, agricultural infrastructure, grain stockpiles, and other civilian objects.
On July 24, Russian forces launched kamikaze drones against the Danube River ports of Izmail and Reni, located near the Romanian border. The attack sparked condemnations from Bucharest.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said that Russia bears full responsibility for the escalating situation in the Black Sea region.
"Russia must stop weaponizing hunger and threatening the world's most vulnerable people with food instability," he commented.
Both Ukraine and Russia declared that vessels sailing to the ports of their opponent will be treated as carriers of military cargo. The U.S. and the U.K. warned that Russia may try to attack civilian ships on the Black Sea as part of their effort to destroy Ukrainian grain exports.
NATO leaders welcomed Turkey's efforts to revitalize the grain deal, and efforts by Bulgaria, Romania, other allies, the EU, and the U.N. to enable continued export of Ukrainian grain by land and sea.
The EU pledged to continue helping with Ukraine's exports via "solidarity lanes," established in May 2022. Croatia and Bulgaria both suggested that their transport infrastructure could be used for Ukrainian agricultural products.
According to NATO's statement, the Alliance will increase surveillance in the Black Sea region, using patrol aircraft and drones, and has already strengthened its presence in the area with two new multinational battlegroups in Bulgaria and Romania.
The NATO-Ukraine Council was established during the Vilnius summit on July 11 as part of the efforts to bring Kyiv closer to the alliance.
The meeting was attended by NATO officials and ambassadors of the member countries, a representation from Sweden, and a Ukrainian representation via teleconference, which included Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov and Brigadier General Oleksii Hromov of the General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces.
Martin Fornusek is a news editor at the Kyiv Independent. He has previously worked as a news content editor at the media company Newsmatics and is a contributor to Euromaidan Press. He was also volunteering as an editor and translator at the Czech-language version of Ukraïner. Martin studied at Masaryk University in Brno, Czechia, holding a bachelor's degree in security studies and history and a master's degree in conflict and democracy studies.
Anastasiia Lapatina
