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."
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.
General Alexander Sollfrank, at the time commander of German special forces, attends a public presentation on the 'Day of the Bundeswehr' at the Military Museum, on June 9, 2018. (Monika Skolimowska/picture alliance via Getty Images)
The Kremlin criticized on Nov. 24 a NATO official's proposition for a military analog for the Schengen Area in Europe, issuing threats in response, the Russian state news agency TASS reported.
NATO's logistics command chief urged members on Nov. 23 to remove the red tape hindering troop movements across Europe, as it would impair a swift response in a potential conflict with Russia.
"We are running out of time. What we don't get done in peacetime won't be ready in case of a crisis or a war," the logistics chief, Lieutenant-General Alexander Sollfrank, told Reuters, stressing that allied militaries should be able to move freely between member states.
Russia called the statement an "instigation of tension in Europe" and a possible threat to its security.
"Europe does not wish to heed our concerns, and Europe pushes aside the invariable principle of indivisible security, which means that they talk about their security to the detriment of ours," Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said.
The spokesperson accused NATO of "moving towards" Russia and threatened with possible "countermeasures to ensure our (Russian) security."
Tensions between Moscow and NATO spiked following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, prompting even formally neutral states like Finland or Sweden to seek membership in the alliance over security concerns.
Russia has repeatedly labeled NATO as a threat to its own security and uses Kyiv's Euro-Atlantic aspirations as one of the justifications for its aggression.
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 Malenko
