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).
Russia's Buryatia Republic declared a state of emergency on May 13 over massive forest fires that have engulfed multiple regions in the Russian Far East.
A Ukrainian-made Neptune missile being fired on April 5, 2019. (The Presidential Office of Ukraine)
The Ukrainian government changed the rules regarding the conscription of workers from the military industry, allowing companies producing military equipment to staff without restriction, the Economy Ministry wrote on Jan. 16.
Discussions on mobilization have been ongoing since Dec. 19, when President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Ukraine's military leadership had proposed to mobilize up to 500,000 additional conscripts.
Commander-in-Chief Valerii Zaluzhnyi then denied that figure but said that the military did have a plan for mobilization numbers for 2024.
The change in the conscription rules for military industry workers is "aimed at strengthening the potential of the defense industry and enabling defense companies to operate steadily and increase production," said Deputy Economy Minister Ihor Fomenko.
According to the changes, employees of companies designated as being "critical to the defense industry" will be exempt from conscription.
The exemption will apply regardless of rank, age, and military specialization and without limitations on the number of workers in question.
"Our top priority is to provide our defenders with everything they need to win," said Fomenko.
Nate Ostiller is a former News Editor at the Kyiv Independent. He works on special projects as a researcher and writer for The Red Line Podcast, covering Eastern Europe and Eurasia, and focused primarily on digital misinformation, memory politics, and ethnic conflict. Nate has a Master’s degree in Russian and Eurasian Studies from the University of Glasgow, and spent two years studying abroad at Kyiv-Mohyla Academy in Ukraine. Originally from the USA, he is currently based in Tbilisi, Georgia.
Martin Fornusek
