Beijing supports all efforts toward achieving peace in Ukraine, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said on May 12 when asked about Kyiv and Europe's proposal for a 30-day truce.
"I invited His Holiness to make an apostolic visit to Ukraine. Such a visit would bring real hope to all believers and to all our people," Zelensky said.
Previously, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk accused the Russian intelligence services of orchestrating a May 2024 arson attack on the Marywilska shopping centre in Warsaw.
Presidential Office chief Andriy Yermak voiced doubt about leading negotiations with anyone from Russia except President Vladimir Putin, implying only the Russian leader can make real decisions.
This includes at least seven people injured in drone attacks overnight on May 12, a date from which Kyiv and its allies put forward a demand for a 30-day unconditional truce, a step that Moscow continues to reject.
"When European unity becomes inconvenient, disinformation goes so far as to make a simple tissue look like drugs," the Elysee Palace reacted to a fake story pushed by Russia.
The comments came after Trump urged Ukraine to agree to direct negotiations with Russia, which has invited Kyiv to peace talks in Istanbul on May 15, without first agreeing to halt military operations.
A Russian drone hit a civilian freight train in Donetsk Oblast on May 12 and injured its driver, Ukrainian Railways said amid Kyiv's calls for a ceasefire.
Moscow and Hanoi agreed to negotiate and sign agreements to construct nuclear power plants in Vietnam, the two countries said in a joint statement on May 11.
The sanctions appear to be in response to Russia's rejection of a 30-day ceasefire that the U.K., alongside Ukraine, France, Germany, and Poland, demanded during a visit to Kyiv on May 10.
"We now know for sure that the great fire of the Marywilska shopping centre in Warsaw was caused by arson ordered by the Russian special services," Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on X. "Some of the perpetrators have already been detained, all the others are identified and searched for."
The publications' latest report covers the period of February 24, 2022 to May 8, 2025. Since it was last updated at the end of April, 2,857 additional Russian military personnel have been confirmed killed.
A Leopard 2A6 main battle tank of the Bundeswehr, the German armed forces, participates in the NATO Iron Wolf military exercises in Pabrade, Lithuania, on Oct. 27, 2022. (Sean Gallup via Getty Images)
The German arms manufacturer Rheinmetall will open an armored vehicle plant in Ukraine within the next 12 weeks, the company's CEO Armin Papperger told CNN in an interview published on July 10.
The concern's director also announced plans to train Ukrainian staff to maintain tanks and other armored vehicles produced in that factory.
"(Ukrainians) have to help themselves — if they always have to wait (for) Europeans or Americans (to) help them over the next 10 or 20 years… that is not possible," Papperger said.
Rheinmetall's CEO revealed that the planned factory will be located in western Ukraine, protected from Russian strikes.
Papperger pointed out that at the moment, ammunition is a bigger priority for the Ukrainian military than tanks, adding that Rheinmetall plans to increase its production of artillery rounds from 100,000 to 600,000 next year. Much of that will be destined for Ukraine, the company's director said.
The German publication Rheinische Post reported on March 4 on Rheinmetall's plan to build a $220 million tank factory on Ukrainian soil. The plant would be able two produce up to 400 newly created Panther tanks per year, while its security should be assured by air defense systems.
On May 20, the company also informed that it wants to cooperate on manufacturing Fuchs armored personnel carriers with Ukraine's state concern Ukroboronprom (now Ukrainian Defense Industry).
Ukrainian State-Owned Enterprises Weekly
