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.
An aerial view of the Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces building, also known as the Main Intelligence Directorate, or GRU, July 6, 2023, in Moscow, Russia. (Contributor/Getty Images)
Two Russian-born Czech citizens ran a hotel in northern Greece that doubled as a safe house for an infamous unit of Russia's military intelligence agency (GRU) as it carried out bombings and poisonings across Europe, an investigation by The Insider has found.
Husband and wife Nikolay and Elena Saposnikov ran the Villa Elena, a three-story hotel in Frama, Halkidiki, which, according to the report, hosted members of the Kremlin's "most grimly accomplished assassination and sabotage squad," Unit 29155, on a regular basis for the last 15 years.
"(The couple) are Russian 'illegals,' or spies operating outside of diplomatic cover, who spent decades living under false pretenses as naturalized citizens of Czechia," The Insider wrote.
Unit 29155 has been behind some of Russia's most notorious recent hostile acts on foreign soil including the poisoning of Sergei Skripal and his daughter in the U.K. in 2018, and the deadly ammunition depot explosions in Czechia in 2014.
"While both Saposnikov spouses engaged in espionage, the wife, Saposnikova, 62, appears to have been directly integrated with Unit 29155," The Insider wrote.
Referencing a report from Czech police also published on April 29 that concluded Russian military intelligence operatives were responsible for the 2014 Czechia bombings, it added: "As such, Czech investigators have concluded, she likely directed and supervised her husband’s – and possibly their son’s – activities in support of Russian state interests."
"The family’s clandestine duties ranged from intelligence-gathering to logistical facilitation, providing safe havens, recruitment efforts, and even aiding in securing physical access for GRU operatives conducting sabotage missions."
These operatives included Alexander Mishkin and Anatoliy Chepiga, the two main suspects in both the Skripal poisonings and the Czechia bombings.
Earlier this month another report from The Insider uncovered evidence linking the mysterious health condition known as the Havana Syndrome to Unit 29155, which reportedly used directed energy weapons to target overseas U.S. government personnel.
Chris York is news operations editor at the Kyiv Independent. Before joining the team, he was head of news at the Kyiv Post. Previously, back in Britain, he spent nearly a decade working for HuffPost UK. He holds an MA in Conflict, Development, and Security from the University of Leeds.
Martin Fornusek
