President Volodymyr Zelensky would not meet any other Russian official apart from Russian President Vladimir Putin in Istanbul this week, presidential advisor Mykhailo Podolyak said on the Breakfast Show program on May 13.
U.S. and European officials held talks on May 12, during which Washington made it clear that it wanted to allow talks between Russia and Ukraine before increasing pressure on Vladimir Putin, sources told Bloomberg.
According to Steve Witkoff, the key topics in the peace discussions are the fate of the five partially or fully occupied Ukrainian regions, the status of the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, and Ukraine's access to the Dnipro River and the Black Sea.
Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa is reportedly offering a deal that would give U.S. companies access to Syria's natural wealth, reminiscent of the minerals agreement Washington recently signed with Kyiv.
Russia attacked Ukraine with drones and guided bombs during the night, targeting multiple regions after the May 12 deadline for an unconditional ceasefire expired.
"Only member states can take out loans within the 150 billion euros instrument, but they can use these funds for joint procurement with Ukraine," EU Defense Commissioner Andrius Kubilius said.
"We agreed to pursue ambitious measures to reduce Russia's ability to wage war by limiting Kremlin revenues, disrupting the shadow fleet, tightening the Oil Price Cap, and reducing our remaining imports of Russian energy."
Zelensky on May 12 removed Lieutenant General Ivan Havryliuk from the Headquarters of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, the top command and control body for all branches of Ukraine's defense apparatus.
Ukraine remains the most mined country in the world. Nearly one-third of Ukraine's territory, approximately 174,000 square kilometers, had been mined since Russia began its full-scale invasion of the country in February 2022.
The phone call comes as Moscow once again rejected a 30-day ceasefire, with Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Maria Zakharova claiming that a ceasefire would give "Kyiv a break to restore its military potential and continue its confrontation with Russia."
Flight MH17 departed from Amsterdam Schiphol Airport en-route to Kuala Lumpur International Airport on July 17, 2014. Three hours into the flight, the Boeing-777 was shot down by Russian proxy forces using a Buk surface-to-air missile above Ukraine’s Donetsk Oblast.
A Ukrainian railroad car damaged by shelling on display in Kyiv on Nov. 1, 2023. (Yan Dobronosov / Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images)
Construction is underway on a railroad between the Russian port city Rostov-on-Don and occupied Crimea via Zaporizhzhia Oblast, the Russian state news agency RIA Novosti reported on Nov. 6.
Yevhen Balytsky, the head of Russia's proxies in occupied Zaporizhzhia Oblast, told reporters that the railway will run from Yakymivka, near Melitopol, to Rostov-on-Don via Berdiansk and Mariupol.
"This project has already started," he said.
Petro Andriushchenko, an advisor to Melitopol's exiled mayor, said on Sept. 27 that Russia had begun to build rail links to occupied cities in Donetsk Oblast in order to reduce the Russian military's dependence on the Crimean Bridge.
Balytsky also said the rail project would aid Russian military logistics by circumventing the bridge.
"Because it is not only far to drive across the Crimean Bridge, but today the bridge is also a high-risk object," Balytsky said.
The Crimean Bridge, which connects the occupied peninsula with Russia's Krasnodar Krai, was severely damaged in a Ukrainian strike on July 17.
Crimea is the central logistics hub for Russian forces in southern Ukraine. A Ukrainian strike on Nov. 4 damaged a Russian missile carrier at a shipyard in the Crimean city Kerch.
Abbey Fenbert is a senior news editor at the Kyiv Independent. She is a freelance writer, editor, and playwright with an MFA from Boston University. Abbey served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Ukraine from 2008-2011.
Alexander Khrebet
