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.
"Russia is ready for negotiations without any preconditions," Putin claimed in an address marking the end of the three-day Victory Day ceasefire. He invited Ukraine to begin talks in Istanbul on May 15.
The aftermath of Russian strikes against the port of Izmail in Odesa Oblast on Aug. 2, 2023. (Source: Governor Oleh Kiper/Telegram)
Russia has conducted several drone strikes against Ukrainian ports on the Danube River in an attempt to halt international trading via these ports, the U.K. Defense Ministry reported on Aug. 4.
The U.K. intelligence report emphasized that the Russian kamikaze drones have struck targets as close as 200 meters from the Romanian border, "suggesting that Russia has evolved its risk appetite for conducting strikes near NATO territory."
The ministry said that Russia is choosing to use drones in the vicinity of NATO borders in the belief that they are less likely to trigger an escalation than cruise missiles.
Since its unilateral withdrawal from the Black Sea Grain Initiative, Russia has been systematically targeting Ukraine's ports, agricultural infrastructure, and grain stockpiles.
Russian forces launched Shahed kamikaze drones against Ukrainian Izmail and Reni Danube ports on July 24, sparking condemnations from Bucharest.
Izmail was again targeted on Aug. 2. in a drone strike that caused significant damage to its infrastructure, damaging or destroying a grain elevator, grain warehouses, administrative buildings, a container in one of the loading terminals, and destroying over 40,000 metric tons of grain.
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.
Alexander Query
