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.
A view of Egypt's Rafah border crossing point with the Gaza Strip on Oct. 25, 2014. (Abed Rahim Khatib/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)
Ukraine has begun preparations to evacuate its citizens from the Gaza Strip after Egypt allowed the departure of foreigners via the Rafah checkpoint, the Foreign Ministry's spokesperson Oleh Nikolenko said on Nov. 1.
"Following the decision of Egyptian authorities to allow the departure of foreigners from the Gaza Strip through the Rafah checkpoint, the Foreign Ministry and other agencies... launched the preparatory phase of the evacuation of Ukrainians," Nikolenko wrote on social media.
Cairo has opened the Rafah checkpoint on the Egypt-Gaza border, starting the evacuation process of some of the civilians trapped in the Palestinian enclave, Ukraine's Ambassador to Egypt Mykola Nahornyi told Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty earlier on Nov. 1.
For the moment, the crossing will be open to foreigners and wounded Palestinians, Bloomberg reported. Around 500 people have been permitted to leave the enclave so far, but Ukrainian citizens are not yet among them, Nahornyi said, adding that the evacuation will be processed in the alphabetical order of the countries.
There are 358 Ukrainian citizens requesting to leave the besieged Gaza Strip, most of them women and children, according to Nikolenko. Ukrainian authorities have sent a request to "relevant parties" for the citizens' permission to leave Gaza and are waiting for the approval, he added.
Valid travel documents will be provided to those who do not have them, and transport and other assistance for the evacuation of Ukrainian citizens has been arranged, Nikolenko said.
The fighting in Israel and the Gaza Strip broke out following Hamas' attack on Israeli settlements on Oct. 7.
Tel Aviv responded by retaliatory airstrikes against Gaza, a total blockade of the enclave, and limited ground operations. Thousands of people, mostly civilians, have been killed on both sides.
As of Oct. 23, more than 500 Ukrainians had been evacuated from Israel. Some 19 Ukrainian citizens have been confirmed as killed in Israel, and four others in Gaza, according to authorities.
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.
Anastasiia Lapatina
