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.
An aerial view of a line of trucks at the Slovakian border with Ukraine near Vysne Nemecke, Slovakia on Nov. 11, 2023. (Robert Nemeti/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Polish haulers will begin the “round-the-clock blockade” of the fourth border crossing with Ukraine, Medyka, on Nov. 27, State Border Guard spokesperson Andrii Demchenko said on national television on Nov. 26.
Before that, the traffic at Medyka crossing was blocked from 10 a.m. until 9 p.m. Kyiv time, Demchenko said.
Polish truckers started blocking three border crossing points on Nov. 6 in protest of the liberalization of EU transport rules for Ukrainian trucks, causing huge lines on both sides of the border.
As of Nov. 26, around 2,100 vehicles were stuck, unable to get into Ukraine as a result of the blockade.
On Nov. 21, Demchenko also said that Slovak haulers began to block the movement of trucks at the Vysne Nemecke checkpoint.
However, according to Demchenko’s latest report, the traffic on the border with Slovakia has been unblocked, with about 350 trucks crossing the border there over the past day.
Although the protesting Polish truckers said that the blockade would only apply to non-essential goods, Ukrinform reported on Nov. 20 that trucks carrying humanitarian aid or fuel and other essential goods had been on standby at the border for days.
Conditions have continued to worsen for the truckers as the weather gets colder. Two Ukrainian truckers have already died while waiting at the border, both reportedly of natural causes. One of them had been waiting at the border for more than three days prior to his death.
Kyiv is preparing to evacuate Ukrainian truckers who have been stuck in the border blockade, Deputy Infrastructure Minister Serhii Derkach said on Nov. 23.
Daria Shulzhenko is a reporter at the Kyiv Independent. She has been a lifestyle reporter at the Kyiv Post until November 2021. She graduated from Kyiv International University with a bachelor’s in linguistics, specializing in translation from English and German languages. She has previously worked as a freelance writer and researcher.
Dominic Culverwell
