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."
Trucks lining up at the Uhryniv-Dolhobychuv checkpoint on the Polish-Ukrainian border on Dec. 4, 2023. (State Border Guard Service)
Polish protesters resumed their blockade of the Uhryniv-Dolhobychuv crossing on the Polish-Ukrainian border, Ukraine's State Border Guard Service reported on Telegram on April 2.
Polish farmers began blocking trucksat several border crossings in February in protest of Ukrainian agricultural imports and the EU's Green Deal.
The blockade at the Uhryniv-Dolhobychuv crossing was temporarily suspended on March 28.
Polish border guards said that the blocking of traffic for trucks started again at about 9 a.m. local time, which may cause difficulties in movement in both directions, according to the statement.
Three trucks per six hours will be able to leave Poland through the checkpoint, and one truck per day will be able to enter the country, Andrii Demchenko, the spokesperson of Ukraine's State Border Guard Service, told Ukrainska Pravda.
Ukraine's Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal arrived in Poland on March 28to discuss the issue of the agricultural trade and the border with his Polish counterpart, Donald Tusk.
The two officials agreed to search for "mutually satisfactory solutions," such as a verification and control system for trade in agricultural goods.
Martin Fornusek
