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.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg addresses a press conference at the NATO headquarters in Brussels on Oct. 11, 2023. (Simon Wohlfahrt/AFP via Getty Images)
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said during a press conference in Brussels on Nov. 29 that he was impressed by the pace of Ukraine's reforms, as well as the commitment of the Ukrainian government and people to implement them in the midst of the full-scale war.
"(Ukraine has) made concrete changes, not least in the fight against (corruption)," he said, adding that these steps help the country "to move closer to NATO membership."
The comments came during a meeting of NATO foreign ministers, which was also attended by Ukraine's Foreign Minister, Dmytro Kuleba.
Stoltenberg expressed his optimism about Ukraine's progress on the battlefield, and although he acknowledged the lack of significant territorial gains in 2023, he declined to address the term "stalemate" used by reporters. Instead, he emphasized Ukraine's increasing ability to conduct deep strikes on Russian targets far behind the front, as well as pushing Russia's Black Sea Fleet "all the way to Novorossiysk."
Repeated Ukrainian attacks on Russia's Black Sea Fleet have caused the "functional defeat" of the Russian navy operating in the region, U.K. Armed Forces Minister James Heappey said on Oct. 3.
Stoltenberg also echoed the estimates of Russian losses cited by the General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces, saying that Russia has suffered more than 300,000 casualties.
In terms of the international picture, he said that Russia has lost a significant amount of its influence abroad and is gradually becoming more economically dependent on China. "Year by year, Moscow is mortgaging its future to Beijing."
Stoltenberg cautioned that the West should not "underestimate Russia," in part because Russia has increasingly switched its economy to that of a country fully at war, and also because (Russian dictator Vladimir) Putin has a high tolerance for casualties."
There will likely be no easy victory on the battlefield, he said. Although the future provision of F-16 fighter jets will help Ukrainian forces, neither they nor any other single Western weapon will likely prove to be a "silver bullet" that "will change fundamentally the situation on the battlefield."
Nate Ostiller is a former News Editor at the Kyiv Independent. He works on special projects as a researcher and writer for The Red Line Podcast, covering Eastern Europe and Eurasia, and focused primarily on digital misinformation, memory politics, and ethnic conflict. Nate has a Master’s degree in Russian and Eurasian Studies from the University of Glasgow, and spent two years studying abroad at Kyiv-Mohyla Academy in Ukraine. Originally from the USA, he is currently based in Tbilisi, Georgia.
The Kyiv Independent news desk
