Pope said he was praying to God to grant the world the "miracle of peace."
Ushakov’s comments follow Russian President Vladimir Putin's May 11 invitation for direct talks with Ukraine in Istanbul starting May 15.
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.
Zelensky called a ceasefire the essential first step toward ending the war.
The number includes 1,310 casualties that Russian forces suffered over the past day.
"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."
"An unconditional ceasefire is not preceded by negotiations," French President Emmanuel Macron told reporters on May 11.
U.S. State Department Spokesperson Tammy Bruce called for "concrete proposals from both sides" in order for Washington to "move forward" in peace negotiations.
"If they speak to each other in Russian, he doesn't know what they are saying," one Western official told NBC News. Michael McFaul, former U.S. ambassador to Russia, called Witkoff's approach "a very bad idea."
Tougher sanctions "should be applied to (Russia's) banking and energy sectors, targeting fossil fuels, oil, and the shadow fleet," the leaders of Ukraine, the U.K., France, Germany, and Poland said in a joint statement.
"Russia is ready for negotiations without any preconditions," Putin claimed in an address marking the end of the three-day Victory Day ceasefire. He invited Ukraine to begin talks in Istanbul on May 15.
The American-made weapons cannot be exported, even by a country that owns them, without approval from the U.S. government.
While serving as a bishop in Peru, Robert Prevost, now Pope Leo XIV, called the full-scale war "a true invasion, imperialist in nature, where Russia seeks to conquer territory for reasons of power."
Speaking to CNN on May 10, Peskov commented on the latest ceasefire proposal from Ukraine and Europe, responding that Russia needs to "think about" it, but is "resistant" to pressure.
The next major U.S. military package to be announced on Jan. 20 for Ukraine may not include American M1 Abrams tanks, according to three undisclosed U.S. officials cited by Politico.
The Biden administration has reportedly no plans to send Abrams tanks, but its reluctance is due to logistical and maintenance challenges rather than fear of escalating Russia’s war in Ukraine, a source told Politico.
The package won’t include Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) surface-to-surface missiles either, according to Politico’s sources.
ATACMS can travel 300 kilometers before precisely striking a target - farther than any of the U.S. weapons that have been supplied to Ukraine so far, missiles that Ukraine has been asking for months.
Ukraine’s request for tanks and long-range missiles has been front and center of Kyiv’s diplomatic requests over the last months amid a potential new Russian offensive.
The largest US security package, announced on Jan. 5, totaled more than $3 billion, including Bradley infantry fighting vehicles.
Earlier on Jan. 18, the European Parliament urged Germany to transfer long-pledged Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine “without further delay.”
The members of the European Parliament “stress that Ukraine is defending its territorial integrity within its internationally recognized borders and urgently needs military aid and heavy weaponry to win the war.”
On Jan. 18, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said that allies need to step up support to Ukraine.
“If we want peace … then we need to provide military support to Ukraine,” the NATO chief said. He said that NATO and Germany “are in constant dialogue” on the tank delivery.
Ukraine is still in need of Western tanks other than the U.K.’s Challengers, announced on Jan. 14.
On Jan. 11, Polish President Andrzej Duda said that Poland planned to supply a company of modern German-made Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine. But since these tanks are produced in Germany, sending them to Ukraine requires approval from the German government.
Bloomberg reported on Jan. 13, citing two unnamed officials familiar with the matter, that Germany will likely decide on whether to supply Leopard tanks to Ukraine ahead of the Rammstein summit, scheduled for Jan. 20.
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