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."
Ukraine's parliament building, the Verkhovna Rada. (Getty Images)
Ukraine's parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, supported in the first reading on April 24 a bill strengthening the state's oversight over the gambling business, lawmaker Oleksii Honcharenko said.
The negative social impacts of gambling are increasingly becoming a topic of public discussion as a petition demanding restrictions on online gambling reached the president's table in March.
The bill, which was backed by 272 lawmakers in today's vote, was submitted already back in May 2023. It has to pass the second reading and be signed by the president before becoming law.
The bill proposes to abolish the Commission for Regulation of Gambling and Lotteries and pass its responsibilities to the Digital Transformation Ministry.
Other measures included further restrictions on online gambling games, a ban on advertising, finding tools to safeguard particularly vulnerable categories of the population, and tightening business control measures.
The bill also proposes guidelines and conditions for canceling licenses, as well as other steps to lift the standards of gambling enterprises.
Gambling was officially banned in Ukraine in 2009 until its legalization in 2020.
In the first two months of 2024, the gambling business in Ukraine paid Hr 2.2 billion ($56 million) in taxes, and Hr 10.4 billion ($267 million) in 2023, according to Danylo Hetmantsev, the chairman of the parliamentary Finance Committee.
President Volodymyr Zelensky signed a decree on April 20 counteracting the negative effects of online gambling, banning it for the military until the end of martial law.
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.
Daria Shulzhenko
