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."
Since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, 7,938 civilians, including 430 children, have been killed, and 10,897 have been injured, according to Dmytro Lubinets, the Ukrainian parliament’s Commissioner for Human Rights.
Russia has also forcibly deported at least 10,570 Ukrainian children, and 260 kids are considered missing as a result of the hostilities, Lubinets said on Nov. 8.
Russia’s all-out war has left 14 million people homeless; 6.2 million Ukrainian citizens became internally displaced, and 11.7 million fled the war abroad, according to Lubinets.
Due to continuous Russian strikes on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, which started in early October, 1.4 million Ukrainians remain without water supply, while 4.6 million have restricted access to it, Lubinets added.
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