"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.
A captive named Umit allegedly agreed to serve in the Russian army in exchange for Russian citizenship and a monetary reward of 2 million rubles ($25,000).
Russia's Buryatia Republic declared a state of emergency on May 13 over massive forest fires that have engulfed multiple regions in the Russian Far East.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko's statement came as Strong Shield 5 exercises involving military personnel from other NATO countries began in Lithuania.
"Amendments to the Budget Code are needed to implement the provisions on funding the U.S.-Ukrainian Reconstruction Investment Fund," lawmaker Roksolana Pidlasa said.
A Ukrainian soldier holds machine gun ammunition during a training with French servicemembers in a military training compound at an undisclosed location in Poland on April 4, 2024. (Wojtek Radwanski / AFP via Getty Images)
Disputes within the German government over further aid to Ukraine led to a drop in the stock prices of German arms manufacturers, Spiegel reported on Aug. 19.
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) reported on Aug. 17 that Germany's Finance Ministry was not planning to approve additional aid to Ukraine as part of budgetary savings this year.
Ukraine's Foreign Ministry called the reports on Germany allegedly halting military aid for Ukraine a "manipulation."
Shares of German arms maker Rheinmetall, which have risen 28% over the past two weeks, fell 5% on Aug. 19 as soon as the markets opened, although by midday, the decline had been reduced to nearly 3%, according to Spiegel.
Shares of Bavarian arms manufacturers Renk and Hensoldt, after a sharp morning drop on the same day, had fallen about 4% by noon.
According to the agreed-upon state budget, Germany's military aid to Ukraine will be cut by half next year.
Berlin will provide Kyiv with around 8 billion euros ($8.7 billion) this year but will only give 4 billion euros ($4.35 billion) in 2025.
Berlin is hoping that the shortfall will be made up by the profits from frozen Russian assets, Reuters reported.
Kateryna Hodunova is a News Editor at the Kyiv Independent. She previously worked as a sports journalist in several Ukrainian outlets and was the deputy chief editor at Suspilne Sport. Kateryna covered the 2022 Olympics in Beijing and was included in the Special Mentions list at the AIPS Sport Media Awards. She holds a bachelor's degree in political journalism from Taras Shevchenko University and a master's degree in political science from the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy.
Natalia Yermak
