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.
Retired U.S. General Ben Hodges is speaking at the Globsec Forum on Aug. 31, Prague, the Czech Republic. (Ray Baseley/the Kyiv Independent)
The policy of not allowing Ukraine to strike military targets inside Russia with long-range weapons, such as ATACMS missiles, means that the West has no "clearly defined objective," retired U.S. Lieutenant General Ben Hodges said on Aug. 31 at the Globsec Forum in Prague, attended by a Kyiv Independent reporter.
Kyiv has long argued that restrictions on the use of long-range weapons are stifling its war effort, while Washington claimed that allowing Ukraine to hit deep into Russian territory with its weapons could escalate the situation.
Ukraine has dismissed these arguments and has ramped up pressure to lift the ban in recent weeks amid the ongoing incursion into Russia's Kursk Oblast. The White House has not budged on its position, despite some U.S. politicians backing Kyiv’s demands.
"This terrible policy which actually protects Russian airfields better than it protects Ukrainian civilians is a manifestation of the fact that we don't have a clearly defined objective," Hodges said.
According to the ex-U.S. commander, the Biden administration "failed the most important task — what do we want to accomplish."
"If we want Ukrainians to prevail, we have to let them bring the war to the Russian territory," said Karel Rehka, chief of the General Staff of the Czech Armed Forces.
When asked about Ukraine's ongoing Kursk Oblast incursion, Hodges said that this operation "woke people up," killing the myth that "Russia is inevitably going to win."
"I wish the Kremlin would declare total mobilization (in response to Kursk)... Then for sure people would say: What the hell are we doing in Ukraine."
Western countries have largely allowed Ukraine to use their arms in the Kursk incursion, but the U.S. and the U.K. have maintained their restrictions on the use of long-range missiles like ATACMS or Storm Shadow.
Nate Ostiller
