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."
Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) meets with Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad (L) in Moscow, Russia on July 24, 2024. (Kremlin Press Office/Handout/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Russian President Vladimir Putin met with Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad at the Kremlin, the president's press service said on July 25.
The meeting was held the previous day.
Russia has long been one of the consistent supporters of the Assad regime, intervening on its behalf in 2015 against multiple anti-government forces. Russia still has troops in Syria. Damascus has been supportive of the Kremlin during the ongoing invasion of Ukraine.
In a readout of the meeting, Putin said that he wanted to hear Assad's "opinion on the situation in the region as a whole."
"Regrettably, we see that it tends to deteriorate," Putin added.
According to the readout, Assad said he was "happy to see" Putin again and emphasized that "relations between our nations have been based on trust, which is evidence of our nations' maturity."
"Considering the current developments in the world, and in particular in the Eurasian region, our meeting today is extremely important for discussing the details of all these developments, as well as potential outlooks and scenarios," Assad is quoted as saying through a translator.
Nate Ostiller
