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.
Romanian Army soldiers build a bomb shelter in the village of Plauru, Danube Delta, 300 kilometers east of Bucharest, Romania, on Sept. 12, 2023. (Mihai Barbu/AFP via Getty Images)
Romania has installed an anti-drone system at the Danube Delta near its border with Ukraine, the country's President Klaus Iohannis said on Oct. 26, Digi24 reported.
Bucharest has been tightening security in its border regions as Russian drone attacks on Ukrainian Danube ports resulted in some unmanned aerial vehicles falling on Romanian soil.
"The anti-drone system is 'in place,' as they say; it is operational," Iohannis said in Brussels.
"Some of the (equipment) comes from the Romanian military, other comes from allies."
Iohannis added that the radars Romania uses are now able to detect targets at a much lower altitude than before.
"You know that earlier, the problem was that radars only detected targets above 600 meters. Now this level is much lower, almost at the ground," he explained.
Romanian media reported on Oct. 20 that Bucharest is planning to install an anti-drone system along the border with Ukraine in cooperation with an unnamed partner state.
Bucharest has previously deployed additional security measures in the border areas, including setting up bomb shelters and issuing air raid warnings.
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.
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