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.
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.
A Kamov Ka-52 Alligator military helicopter takes part in a military aviation competition in Russia's Krasnodar region on March 28, 2019. Photo for illustrative purposes. (Vitaly Timkiv/AFP via Getty Images)
The crowd-sourced monitoring website DeepState shared pictures on Aug. 6 appearing to show a downed Russian Ka-52 attack helicopter and two destroyed tanks amid reports of a cross-border incursion into Kursk Oblast.
Earlier, Ukrainian authorities in Sumy Oblast said that troops in the area had downed a Russian helicopter, two drones, and a ballistic missile. The announcement coincided with reports of intensified Russian attacks in the oblast.
The photos, which could not be independently verified, came after Russia's Defense Ministry claimed that Ukrainian soldiers launched attacks across the border.
Russian Telegram channels said earlier in the day that a sabotage and reconnaissance group with heavy equipment had entered the oblast, which is located across the border from Ukraine's Sumy Oblast.
🐷Два знищені кацапські танки на тралах при в'їзді у Суджу
💥 В мережі з'явилися гарні світлини знищеної ворожої техніки. Деталі та обставини з'ясовуються. Ворог сьогодні поніс втрати у техніці та живій силі.
Russia's Defense Ministry claimed around 5 p.m. local time that up to 300 soldiers of Ukraine's 22nd Separate Mechanized Brigade, equipped with tanks and armored vehicles, had allegedly attacked Russian units near the border settlements of Nikolaevo-Darino and Oleshnya in Kursk Oblast.
Ukraine's 22nd Separate Mechanized Brigade has not commented on these claims, which cannot be independently verified.
Earlier in the day, Aleksey Smirnov, the governor of Russia's Kursk Oblast, claimed that Russian border guards "prevented a border breakthrough" in the Sudzhansky and Korenevsky districts.
There were conflicting reports from Russian authorities about an evacuation order in the area, which the local administration of Russia's Emergency Situations Ministry dismissed as "fake information."
In March, three anti-Kremlin Russian armed groups units launched incursions into Belgorod and Kursk oblasts from Ukraine, allegedly resulting in clashes with Russian forces in several settlements. The incursions were immediately followed by relentless Russian attacks on the regional capital of Sumy and the region.
Martin Fornusek
