Hungary cancelled a meeting planned for May 12 with a Ukrainian delegation on the rights of national minorities, Hungary's Deputy Foreign Minister said on May 11, amid a deepening spying scandal between the two countries.
Three were injured in Russia's Kursk Oblast when the town of Rylsk was allegedly struck by a missile attack on May 11, local governor Alexander Khinshtein claimed.
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.
People are seen next to the exhibited Russian military equipment during Ukraine's 32nd anniversary of Independence Day in Kyiv on Aug. 24, 2023. (Ercin Erturk/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
More than half of Ukrainians are optimistic about their country's chances of winning the war with Russia in the short term, according to a survey by the Ilko Kucheriv Democratic Initiatives Foundation and the Razumkov Center, published on Dec. 27.
Among those who believe in victory in the short term, 6% believe Ukraine will win in the next few months, 21% believe Ukraine will win by the summer of 2024, and 31% believe a Ukrainian victory will take one to two years.
Another 15% believe Ukraine will win in the medium term, between three and five years from now. Only 2.5% of respondents believe that a Ukrainian victory will never materialize.
The poll also showed that the vast majority of Ukrainians, or 88% of respondents, believe Ukraine will emerge victorious from the war, while 5% of respondents doubt a victory will be possible.
Among those living in the country's southern regions, the proportion of respondents who said they doubted a victory for Ukraine rose to 10%.
According to the poll, 95% of respondents said the war affects their daily lives. When asked which emotions they most commonly feel when thinking about the future, respondents said they most commonly feel hope, anxiety, and optimism.
55% of Ukrainians look to their own future with hope, but slightly more respondents reported feeling hope for the future of Ukraine, with 61% choosing this answer.
In total, 2,019 people over 18 were surveyed across Ukraine, except in areas where hostilities are taking place and territories under Russian occupation.
Elsa Court is the audience development manager at the Kyiv Independence. She previously worked as a news editor at the Kyiv Independent and was previously an intern at the Kyiv Post. She has a Master’s in Conflict Studies and Human Rights from Utrecht University. Elsa is originally from the UK.
Nate Ostiller
