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.
A captive named Umit allegedly agreed to serve in the Russian army in exchange for Russian citizenship and a monetary reward of 2 million rubles ($25,000).
Illustrative image of a tanker transiting through the Great Belt of Denmark off the coast of Agerso, Denmark, on Thursday, Aug. 15. 2024. (Carsten Snejbjerg/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
The U.K. has sanctioned 10 Russian vessels that are part of the "shadow fleet" of ships that transport Russian oil around the world, the U.K. Foreign Office announced on Sept. 11.
Russia's "shadow fleet" is a group of older and often uninsured vessels used by Russia to ship out its oil while avoiding international sanctions imposed in 2022 as part of the effort to cut Moscow's fossil fuel revenue.
"Russia has been forced to spend over $8 billion amassing this shadow fleet," Foreign Secretary David Lammy said.
Under sanctions, the tankers will be unable to load oil, helping "counter Russian attempts to undermine and dodge economic sanctions," Lammy said.
The Foreign Office said that previous sanctions against similar vessels have left ships "idling in ports, disrupting a vital source of revenue for Putin's war machine." The U.K. has now sanctioned 25 vessels considered part of the "shadow fleet."
The Foreign Office described the newly sanctioned vessels as "high-volume offenders," which operate "around the clock to transport as much Russian oil as possible."
Three of the ships have together carried over $5 billion worth of Russian oil since the full-scale invasion began in February 2022.
"Russia's oil exports are Putin's most critical revenue source for funding his illegal war in Ukraine, accounting for roughly a quarter of the Russian budget in 2023," the Foreign Office said.
The Russian government expects oil and gas revenues to rise by 21% year-on-year to 10.7 trillion rubles ($120 billion) in 2024.
Mykola Kolisnyk
