The comments came after Trump urged Ukraine to agree to direct negotiations with Russia, which has invited Kyiv to peace talks in Istanbul on May 15, without first agreeing to halt military operations.
A Russian drone hit a civilian freight train in Donetsk Oblast on May 12 and injured its driver, Ukrainian Railways said amid Kyiv's calls for a ceasefire.
Moscow and Hanoi agreed to negotiate and sign agreements to construct nuclear power plants in Vietnam, the two countries said in a joint statement on May 11.
The sanctions appear to be in response to Russia's rejection of a 30-day ceasefire that the U.K., alongside Ukraine, France, Germany, and Poland, demanded during a visit to Kyiv on May 10.
"We now know for sure that the great fire of the Marywilska shopping centre in Warsaw was caused by arson ordered by the Russian special services," Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on X. "Some of the perpetrators have already been detained, all the others are identified and searched for."
The publications' latest report covers the period of February 24, 2022 to May 8, 2025. Since it was last updated at the end of April, 2,857 additional Russian military personnel have been confirmed killed.
Hungary cancelled a meeting planned for May 12 with a Ukrainian delegation on the rights of national minorities, Hungary's Deputy Foreign Minister said on May 11, amid a deepening spying scandal between the two countries.
Three were injured in Russia's Kursk Oblast when the town of Rylsk was allegedly struck by a missile attack on May 11, local governor Alexander Khinshtein claimed.
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.
UK Defense Minister Grant Shapps speaks during a press conference in central London on Dec. 11, 2023. (Lucy North/PA Images via Getty Images)
On the second anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion, the U.K. pledges £245 million ($311 million) to enhance Ukraine's artillery ammunition reserves within the next year, according to the country's defense ministry.
"They cannot win this fight without the support of the international community – and that’s why we continue to do what it takes to ensure Ukraine can continue to fight towards victory," British Defense Minister Grant Shapps said in a statement, Reuters reports.
Amidst its fight against Russia's aggression, Ukraine confronts severe shortages of ammunition and seeks increased military support from Western nations. The possibility of additional aid from the United States, its primary contributor, depends on a congressional vote.
The U.K. has pledged over $8.8 billion (seven billion pounds) of military assistance to Ukraine since February 2022.
As Ukraine transitions toward NATO-standard artillery, its military has heavily relied on shells sourced from U.S. stocks, supplemented by purchases from non-NATO allies, particularly South Korea.
Recognizing the urgent demand, European nations have initiated efforts to ramp up domestic production, although they have faced criticism for the time it has taken to achieve this.
However, with Republicans blocking U.S. military aid funding for Ukraine since late last year, the absence of new deliveries has been keenly felt on the battlefield.
Both Washington and Kyiv have acknowledged that one of the primary factors contributing to recent Russian successes, notably the capture of the city of Avdiivka, marking Moscow’s first significant territorial gains since May 2023, is Ukraine's shortage of artillery ammunition.
Olena Goncharova is the Head of North America desk at The Kyiv Independent, where she has previously worked as a development manager and Canadian correspondent. She first joined the Kyiv Post, Ukraine's oldest English-language newspaper, as a staff writer in January 2012 and became the newspaper’s Canadian correspondent in June 2018. She is based in Edmonton, Alberta. Olena has a master’s degree in publishing and editing from the Institute of Journalism in Taras Shevchenko National University in Kyiv. Olena was a 2016 Alfred Friendly Press Partners fellow who worked for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette for six months. The program is administered by the University of Missouri School of Journalism in Columbia.
Francis Farrell
