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.
An Iranian loitering munition flies over Kyiv during an attack on Oct. 17, 2022, amid the Russian strike on central Kyiv. (Yasuyoshi Chiba / AFP via Getty Images)
Russia is increasing its supply of Iranian-made drones by importing them via the Caspian Sea and setting up domestic production, the latest U.K. Defense Intelligence update said on June 13.
According to the report, "Russia has likely moved from receiving small deliveries of Iranian one-way-attack unmanned aerial vehicles (OWA-UAV) by air transport" to larger volumes shipped through the Caspian Sea, the world's largest inland body of water that connects both countries.
Since the invasion, Moscow has reportedly relied more often on the International North-South Transport Corridor, a multi-mode transport network connecting Russia, the Caucasus, Iran, and India.
The U.K. intelligence also said that Russia is setting up domestic production of drones with Iranian assistance.
Such drones provide a cheap long-range strike capability when Russian forces used up a large portion of their missile stockpiles.
CNN wrote on May 26 that Tehran is secretly shipping Shahed kamikaze drones to Russia through the Caspian Sea. A particular uptick in traffic was recorded in the fall of 2022 when Moscow began to use drone strikes against Ukraine on a massive scale.
According to the U.S. government, Iran is also helping Russia with building a drone factory in Alabuga Special Economic Zone in Tatarstan, which should become operational in early 2024.
Iran has provided Russia with weaponry throughout its invasion of Ukraine. This included Shahed drones, widely used in air strikes across the country.
Both Ukraine and its Western partners have imposed sanctions against Tehran for its support of Russian aggression.
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
