Andriy Yermak, Zelensky's chief of staff, said that the new pontiff had a phone call with Zelensky on Monday, during which the pope expressed willingness to facilitate meetings between global leaders and vowed to support efforts for "a just and lasting peace."
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.
Arkady Volozh gives a speech during the Artifical Intelligence Journey (AIG) in Moscow, Russia on Nov. 9, 2019. (Mikhail Svetlov/Getty Images)
EU countries agreed to remove Arkady Volozh, co-founder of Russia's most popular search engine Yandex, from the list of sanctions against entities and individuals associated with Russia's war against Ukraine, Reuters reported on Feb. 21, citing three unnamed sources familiar with the discussions.
The EU sanctioned Volozh in June 2022, arguing that his company serves the interests of the Russian government and promotes pro-Kremlin media and narratives, as well as censors content critical of the regime.
In late August 2023, the Financial Times reported that Volozh had made a formal request for the EU to lift its sanctions against him.
According to Reuters, Yandex’s co-founder is one of three people who finally will be removed after Mar. 15 when the sanctions regime is prolonged. The sanctions are discussed and renewed every six months.
Volozh also intends to break ties with Yandex's Russian business after a consortium of investors agreed to buy the Russian assets of the Dutch holding company Yandex NV in early February, Reuters reported.
He owns an 8.5% stake in Yandex NV through a family trust, although he has no voting rights in the company.
In August 2023, Volozh publicly spoke out against Russia's invasion of Ukraine, calling it "barbaric" after remaining silent since the beginning of the all-out war.
He has been recently presenting himself as an "Israeli entrepreneur born in Kazakhstan" in his online biography, omitting his Russian ties.
Following the sanctions, Volozh resigned as the CEO of Yandex and from other senior positions in its subsidiaries. The company also sold its news services to the state-controlled social media platform VK.
The company has also clashed with the Russian authorities. Last year in June, a Russian court fined Yandex 2 million rubles ($20,500) for repeatedly refusing to provide Russia's security services with information about its users.
Kateryna Denisova works as a News Editor at the Kyiv Independent. She previously worked as a news editor at the NV media outlet for four years, covering mainly Ukrainian and international politics. Kateryna holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Taras Shevchenko University of Kyiv. She also was a fellow at journalism schools in the Czech Republic and Germany.
