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.
Andriy Yermak, Zelensky's chief of staff, said that the new pontiff had a phone call with Zelensky on Monday, during which the pope expressed willingness to facilitate meetings between global leaders and vowed to support efforts for "a just and lasting peace."
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.
A German-operated MIM-104 Patriot missile fires an interceptor missile during Operation Red Arrow exercise in Greece on October 15, 2008 (Peter Mueller/Bundeswehr)
Raytheon Technologies, the manufacturer of the Patriot air defense systems, is increasing production and has promised five more systems for Ukraine by the end of 2024, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported on June 11.
The production rate should scale up to 12 systems a year, as their effectiveness in Ukraine exceeds expectations.
Patriots, alongside other air defense systems used by Kyiv, managed to intercept around 90% of incoming attacks against Ukraine by Russia, the WSJ cited Raytheon's Chief Executive Greg Hayes.
The Ukrainian military reportedly managed to improve the systems, allowing them to track and destroy hypersonic missiles twice as fast as they were designed for.
Ukraine received its first Patriot systems in April. They soon proved their worth by downing air-launched ballistic Kinzhal missiles, lauded by Moscow as "unstoppable hypersonic" weapons.
Air defense is likely to remain a priority of Ukraine, as Russia is
reportedly capable of producing up to 67 missiles per month, and the country experienced particularly frequent air attacks in May.
President Volodymyr Zelensky called for a formation of a "Patriot coalition," akin to the existing "fighter jet coalition," that would coordinate the supply of air defense systems for Ukraine.
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.
Illia Ponomarenko
