This week, the world watched in anticipation for Russia’s Victory Day parade after President Volodymyr Zelensky commented that he could not guarantee the safety of those attending. Meanwhile, the European Union moves one step forward to banning Russian gas from the European continent. It is also revealed this week that U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has fallen out of step with the White House.
"(Russian) President (Vladimir) Putin... doesn't want to have a ceasefire agreement with Ukraine, but rather wants to meet on Thursday, in Turkey, to negotiate a possible end to the bloodbath. Ukraine should agree to this, immediately," U.S. President Donald Trump said.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio will travel to to Antalya, Turkey, for a NATO foreign ministers’ meeting from May 14–16, where he is expected to address the war in Ukraine and push for stronger Allied defense commitments.
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."
Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine's president, during a news conference with Olaf Scholz, Germany's chancellor at the Ukraine Recovery Conference in Berlin, Germany, on June 11, 2024. (Krisztian Bocsi/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Ukraine is working to finalize agreements with European nations for additional military aid shipments as well as expanded intelligence sharing ahead of the next Ramstein summit, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on March 28.
The next Ramstein-format meeting of the Ukrainian Defense Contact Group (UDCG) will likely be held on April 11 in Brussels, and will be chaired by the United Kingdom.
"We agreed with some leaders on Ukraine's access to their ammunition stockpiles," Zelensky told reporters during a press conference, adding that Ukraine has reached agreements with unnamed countries for air defense and artillery production, as well as "on investments in the production of Ukrainian drones and missiles."
Zelensky noted that the pledges in support came from European allies at the Paris summit on March 27, co-led by French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer. Ahead of the summit, France announced it would provide Ukraine with a new military aid package worth 2 billion euros ($2.1 billion).
Several European countries agreed to move forward with plans to send troops to Ukraine as part of a "reassurance force" in case of the ceasefire with Russia, Macron announced at the end of the Paris summit.
Speaking to reporters, Zelensky also noted that a number of unspecified European allies agreed on "expanding Ukraine's access to intelligence data, relevant technologies, and satellites owned by our European colleagues."
The commitments from allies come as the United States under the Trump administration temporarily stopped sharing intelligence with Ukraine following a heated exchange between Trump and President Volodymyr Zelensky in the White House on Feb. 28. The U.S. had resumed sharing intelligence with Ukraine on March 12.
European officials have also weighed satellite alternatives to Starlink following media reports that the U.S. had threatened to terminate Starlink service in order to pressure Kyiv to sign a minerals deal with Washington.
The additional supports come as Ukrainian, British and French general staff representatives are preparing to hold a meetingin Ukraine within a week to discuss the potential deployment of foreign troops to the country.
Zelensky said during his press conference that United States will hold consultations with Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and some European countries regarding monitoring a partial ceasefire.
Starmer has maintained that for any peacekeeping coalition to succeed, Europe must "have strong U.S. backing."
Dmytro Basmat is a senior news editor for The Kyiv Independent. He previously worked in Canadian politics as a communications lead and spokesperson for a national political party, and as a communications assistant for a Canadian Member of Parliament. Basmat has a Master's degree in Political Management from Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada, and a Bachelor of Arts in Politics and Governance from Toronto Metropolitan University.
Kateryna Denisova
