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."
People participate in a pro-Ukrainian protest in Lafayette Park near the White House on Feb. 27, 2022 in Washington, DC. (Pete Marovich/Getty Images)
Republican support for continued aid to Ukraine has declined since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, but has remained strong among Democrats, a Gallup poll released on Nov. 2 found.
A staggering 41% of Americans now say that the U.S. is doing too much to help Ukraine, compared with 33% who say it is the right amount, and 25% who believe it is not enough.
As other previous polls have indicated, there is a significant partisan divide. A strong majority (62%) of Republicans think the U.S. is doing too much to help, while only 14% of Democrats think so. Independents remain in the middle at 44%.
Across the board, there is a slight increase in those who think the war should be ended as soon as possible, up to 43%, compared to 36% in June 2023.
These figures also correspond with party affiliation.
A majority (55%) of Republicans believe that the war should be ended as soon as possible, compared to only 19% of Democrats.
The one place where there was relative agreement, however, was that a majority of respondents in every category, including age, political party, and ethnicity, thought that neither Ukraine nor Russia was winning the war.
The figure was highest among Democrats, 32% of whom believed Ukraine was winning the war.
Other polls, even ones conducted recently in October, have displayed slightly different results, albeit a consistent partisan divide.
A poll published by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs on Oct. 4 found that 63% of Americans backed continued assistance for Ukraine. Among Democrats, the figure was 77%, compared to 50% for Republicans.
Nate Ostiller is a former News Editor at the Kyiv Independent. He works on special projects as a researcher and writer for The Red Line Podcast, covering Eastern Europe and Eurasia, and focused primarily on digital misinformation, memory politics, and ethnic conflict. Nate has a Master’s degree in Russian and Eurasian Studies from the University of Glasgow, and spent two years studying abroad at Kyiv-Mohyla Academy in Ukraine. Originally from the USA, he is currently based in Tbilisi, Georgia.
Anastasiia Malenko
