This week, the world watched in anticipation for Russia’s Victory Day parade after President Volodymyr Zelensky commented that he could not guarantee the safety of those attending. Meanwhile, the European Union moves one step forward to banning Russian gas from the European continent. It is also revealed this week that U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has fallen out of step with the White House.
"(Russian) President (Vladimir) Putin... doesn't want to have a ceasefire agreement with Ukraine, but rather wants to meet on Thursday, in Turkey, to negotiate a possible end to the bloodbath. Ukraine should agree to this, immediately," U.S. President Donald Trump said.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio will travel to to Antalya, Turkey, for a NATO foreign ministers’ meeting from May 14–16, where he is expected to address the war in Ukraine and push for stronger Allied defense commitments.
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."
National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan at a news briefing at the White House on Dec. 4, 2023. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
Ukrainian troops began running out of ammunition as U.S. assistance has largely stopped flowing, U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said on Feb. 14, urging Congress to pass additional funding.
A foreign aid bill containing $60 billion for Ukraine has finally passed the U.S. Senate after months of protracted negotiations. The funding has yet to be approved by the Republican-led House of Representatives, where it is likely to face even stiffer opposition.
"We cannot afford to wait any longer. Every day comes at a cost to the people of Ukraine and to the national security interests of the United States of America," Sullivan said during a press briefing at the White House.
"The stakes are getting higher. The costs of inaction are also getting higher every day."
According to Sullivan, Washington is increasingly "getting reports of Ukrainian troops rationing, or even running out of ammunition on the front lines, as Russian forces continue to attack both on the ground, and from trying to wear down Ukrainian air defenses."
The White House, as well as Republican and Democratic leaders in the Senate, have repeatedly urged the House to pass the bill.
The situation on Ukraine's battlefields remains difficult as Russia is ramping up pressure at the eastern front, namely at Avdiivka. Ukrainian defense leaders have repeatedly warned that without U.S. assistance, they are forced to ration munition.
"Russia vastly outnumbers us in daily artillery attacks. At different areas of the front and stages of hostilities, they fired five to 10 times more artillery shells than the Ukrainian forces," Ukraine's Defense Minister Rustem Umerov said in January.
Martin Fornusek is a news editor at the Kyiv Independent. He has previously worked as a news content editor at the media company Newsmatics and is a contributor to Euromaidan Press. He was also volunteering as an editor and translator at the Czech-language version of Ukraïner. Martin studied at Masaryk University in Brno, Czechia, holding a bachelor's degree in security studies and history and a master's degree in conflict and democracy studies.
The Kyiv Independent news desk
