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."
U.S. State Department Spokesperson Tammy Bruce called for "concrete proposals from both sides" in order for Washington to "move forward" in peace negotiations.
"If they speak to each other in Russian, he doesn't know what they are saying," one Western official told NBC News. Michael McFaul, former U.S. ambassador to Russia, called Witkoff's approach "a very bad idea."
Tougher sanctions "should be applied to (Russia's) banking and energy sectors, targeting fossil fuels, oil, and the shadow fleet," the leaders of Ukraine, the U.K., France, Germany, and Poland said in a joint statement.
U.S. Ambassador Lynne Tracy's car outside the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, April 2023. (Photo by Kirill Kudryavtsev/AFP via Getty Images)
The U.S. "will respond appropriately" to Moscow's decision to expel two U.S. diplomats from Russia, State Department Spokesperson Matt Miller said in a press briefing on Sept. 14.
"This unprovoked expulsion of our diplomatic personnel is wholly without merit," Miller said.
On Sept. 14, the Russian Foreign Affairs Ministry told U.S. Ambassador Lynne Tracy that two American diplomats, Jeffrey Sillin and David Bernstein, had been declared "persona non grata" and would have to leave the Russian Federation within seven days.
The Russian government accused the diplomats of conducting "illegal activities" and collaborating with Robert Shonov, a Russian citizen who was arrested on espionage charges in May 2023.
"Yet again, Russia has chosen confrontation and escalation over constructive diplomatic engagement," Miller said. "It continues to harass employees of our embassy, just as it continues to intimidate its own citizens."
Miller said the U.S. diplomats were "just doing their jobs" and that neither was guilty of wrongdoing or criminal activity. He also said that Shonov, a former U.S. Consulate employee, had acted "in compliance with Russian law."
Miller declined to give details about the U.S. government's next steps, but said they would respond "appropriately" and "expeditiously" to the expulsion.
He also said that Sillin and Bernstein had not yet left Russia.
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.
The Kyiv Independent news desk
