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.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said he will meet with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara, but said both leaders are ready to fly to Istanbul if Russian President Vladimir Putin chooses to attend the talks there.
The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on August 23, 2023 in Kyiv, Ukraine. (Andrii Nesterenko/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images)
Ukraine's parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, approved in the first reading on Jan. 10 a bill on lobbying, one of the remaining requirements presented to Kyiv by the European Commission in its latest assessment, lawmaker Yaroslav Zhelezniak said.
In its November report, the EU's executive body recommended the launch of accession talks with Kyiv but noted that several reforms are still needed, namely adopting a law on lobbying.
According to Zhelezniak, the bill effectively functions as an alternative to the anti-oligarch law.
The anti-oligarch legislation, passed in 2021 to curtail the political influence of oligarchs, was postponed until after the end of the full-scale war based on a recommendation of the Venice Commission, an advisory body to the Council of Europe.
The new lobbying bill, backed by 309 lawmakers in the first reading, establishes definitions and rules for lobbying and involved subjects.
It also provides for the creation of a new transparency register run by the National Agency on Corruption Prevention and creates new mechanisms for lobbying monitoring.
The bill still needs to pass a second reading and receive a presidential signature before it becomes a law.
As Ukraine continues in its reform efforts on its path toward EU membership, it received a positive signal on its aspirations. During a summit in December, the European Council agreed to launch the accession talks with Kyiv.
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
