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.
While serving as a bishop in Peru, Robert Prevost, now Pope Leo XIV, called the full-scale war "a true invasion, imperialist in nature, where Russia seeks to conquer territory for reasons of power."
Speaking to CNN on May 10, Peskov commented on the latest ceasefire proposal from Ukraine and Europe, responding that Russia needs to "think about" it, but is "resistant" to pressure.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban speaks at a joint press conference with Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer upon Orban's official visit on July 28, 2022, in Vienna, Austria. (Michael Gruber/Getty Images)
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban told state radio that Budapest would veto any European Union sanctions against Russia related to nuclear energy, Reuters reported on Jan. 27. "We will not allow the plan to include nuclear energy into the sanctions to be implemented," Orban said. "This is out of the question."
Ukraine earlier called on the EU to impose sanctions on Russia's nuclear industry, specifically the state nuclear operator Rosatom, in its next package of measures against the country. According to Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, Rosatom earns about $9 billion every year from the sale of raw uranium, its enrichment services, and the construction of nuclear power plants.
Hungary has a Russian-built nuclear plant generating almost half of the country's power, which it plans to expand. In 2014, Budapest signed a contract with Rosatom to construct two additional reactors for the Paks Nuclear Power Plant in central Hungary.
The Hungarian government has repeatedly criticized the EU sanctions against Russia over its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, saying that they failed to significantly weaken Russia but allegedly are destroying the European economy instead.
Polish RMF FM reported on Jan. 19, citing a high-ranking EU diplomatic source, that Budapest had blocked half a billion euros worth of military aid in the seventh such package allocated to Ukraine as part of the European Peace Facility.
In December, Hungary also held up the EU's 18 billion macro-financial assistance package to Ukraine. Media reports alleged that the EU saw it as Budapest's attempt to force the EU to release aid to Hungary, which had been frozen due to the country's insufficient reforms.
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