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.
Shells at the Forges de Tarbes workshop that produces 155mm shells, the munition for French Caesar artillery, in Tarbes, southwestern France, on April 4, 2023. (Lionel Bonaventure/Getty Images)
EU members have so far placed orders for only 60,000 artillery shells under a joint procurement scheme, which is a key component of the plan to supply Ukraine with 1 million shells by spring, Reuters reported on Dec. 6, citing undisclosed sources.
European and Ukrainian officials acknowledged in November that the EU is behind schedule with its shell deliveries, just as Russia is ramping up defense production and securing ammunition from its partners.
One method of hitting the 1-million mark lies in jointly procuring additional munition through contracts negotiated by the bloc's European Defence Agency (EDA).
The EDA said in September that seven countries had ordered ammunition via this scheme. Lithuania, Denmark, and Luxembourg have said they were among this group.
Sources told Reuters that only 60,000 shells had been ordered under this scheme, although the EDA did not confirm the figure.
Another way to provide munitions to Ukraine was by drawing on existing stocks. EU countries delivered some 300,000 shells and missiles from their arsenals, the bloc's chief diplomat, Josep Borrell, announced in mid-November.
More munitions were ordered in contracts under the leadership of a specific lead nation, like Germany.
EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Nov. 30 that 480,000 artillery shells had "been either delivered (to Ukraine) or are in the pipeline," which is less than half of the promised amount.
According to Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, the delays are connected to the poor state of the European defense industry.
Micael Johannson, the vice-chairman of the ASD defense lobby group, said that Europe is facing a real challenge to "restart production of ammunition and weapons systems that we haven't done for a very long time."
In turn, defense industry representatives called on the governments for more firm orders rather than just targets.
Martin Fornusek is a news editor at the Kyiv Independent. He has previously worked as a news content editor at the media company Newsmatics and is a contributor to Euromaidan Press. He was also volunteering as an editor and translator at the Czech-language version of Ukraïner. Martin studied at Masaryk University in Brno, Czechia, holding a bachelor's degree in security studies and history and a master's degree in conflict and democracy studies.
Anna Myroniuk
