The Kremlin said the leaders held a detailed discussion about the Russian initiative and Erdogan expressed full support, reiterating Turkey’s readiness to provide a venue and assist in organizing the negotiations.
Erdogan told Macron that international cooperation is critical for initiating peace negotiations and the "sensitive implementation" of Ukraine’s recovery and reconstruction processes, the Turkish Presidency reported.
The assault began around 2 a.m. on May 11, with Russian forces deploying 108 Shahed-type attack drones and decoy UAVs from multiple directions, Ukraine’s Air Force said.
"Think of the hundreds of thousands of lives that will be saved as this never ending 'bloodbath' hopefully comes to an end... I will continue to work with both sides to make sure that it happens."
U.S. State Department Spokesperson Tammy Bruce called for "concrete proposals from both sides" in order for Washington to "move forward" in peace negotiations.
"If they speak to each other in Russian, he doesn't know what they are saying," one Western official told NBC News. Michael McFaul, former U.S. ambassador to Russia, called Witkoff's approach "a very bad idea."
Workers building fortifications in Sumy Oblast, Ukraine on May 2024. (George Ivanchenko / The Kyiv Independent)
Russian forces attacked 11 communities in Sumy Oblast on Aug. 19, injuring four civilians, according to the Sumy Oblast Military Administration. In total, 256 explosions were recorded in 69 separate attacks on the region.
The communities of Khotin, Bilopillia, Myropillia, Krasnopillia, Velyka Pysarivka, Nova Sloboda, Hlukhiv, Esman, Shalyhyne, Druzhbivka, and Seredyna-Buda were targeted.
Two people were injured in the Esman community that the Russian forces struck with drones, missiles and explosives, while two others were wounded in the attack on the Seredyna-Buda community. No details were provided on the extent of the victims' injuries.
Throughout the day, Russia assailed the border communities with mortar, artillery, rocket launchers, explosives, unguided rockets, and drone attacks. The town of Krasnopillia, with a pre-war population of about 7,700 residents, experienced the bulk of the attacks, with 147 explosions reported in the area. There was no information on damages in the region.
The security situation in Sumy Oblast became more tense with the start of Ukraine's cross-border incursion into neighboring Kursk Oblast in Russia, which began on Aug. 6.
Sumy Oblast borders Russia's Bryansk, Belgorod oblasts and shares a 245-kilometer (152-mile) border with Kursk Oblast.
Civilians in Sumy Oblast within 20 kilometers (12 miles) of the border with Kursk Oblast are now subject to restrictions on movement due to increasing Russian attacks, according to the General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces.
Olena Goncharova is the Head of North America desk at The Kyiv Independent, where she has previously worked as a development manager and Canadian correspondent. She first joined the Kyiv Post, Ukraine's oldest English-language newspaper, as a staff writer in January 2012 and became the newspaper’s Canadian correspondent in June 2018. She is based in Edmonton, Alberta. Olena has a master’s degree in publishing and editing from the Institute of Journalism in Taras Shevchenko National University in Kyiv. Olena was a 2016 Alfred Friendly Press Partners fellow who worked for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette for six months. The program is administered by the University of Missouri School of Journalism in Columbia.
The Kyiv Independent news desk
