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.
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Sunday, May 11
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.
Pope said he was praying to God to grant the world the "miracle of peace."
Ushakov’s comments follow Russian President Vladimir Putin's May 11 invitation for direct talks with Ukraine in Istanbul starting May 15.
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.
Zelensky called a ceasefire the essential first step toward ending the war.
The number includes 1,310 casualties that Russian forces suffered over the past day.
"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."
"An unconditional ceasefire is not preceded by negotiations," French President Emmanuel Macron told reporters on May 11.
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."
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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.
Sunday, May 11
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"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.
The American-made weapons cannot be exported, even by a country that owns them, without approval from the U.S. government.
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NBC: Some US and Western officials think neither side can win Ukraine-Russia war
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The U.S. and Western officials also hoping a slowdown in fighting this winter could be an opportunity for negotiations between Russia and Ukraine, NBC reported, citing unnamed officials familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Western defense officials who spoke to NBC doubt Ukraine's ability to remove Russian troops completely from Ukraine's occupied territories.
A Ukrainian official familiar with talks during U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan's visit to Kyiv last week also told NBC Sullivan had not tried to pressure Ukraine into entering negotiations but had expressed that Ukraine would maintain Western support better if it shows it is open to diplomatic solutions.
According to the Ukrainian official, President Volodymyr Zelensky reiterated that Ukraine was open to negotiations with Russia in the early months of the war but took the option off the table following Russia's atrocities and war crimes in Ukraine that had made diplomacy with Russia "unpalatable to the Ukrainian public," NBC wrote.
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