Andriy Yermak, Zelensky's chief of staff, said that the new pontiff had a phone call with Zelensky on Monday, during which the pope expressed willingness to facilitate meetings between global leaders and vowed to support efforts for "a just and lasting peace."
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.
Bullet casings sit in packets before loading into belts for use in machine guns at Ukroboronprom's (now Ukraine Defense Industry) Mayak manufacturing plant in Kyiv, Ukraine on March 9, 2016. (Vincent Mundy/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Foreign partners have so far pledged to invest around $675 million in the Ukrainian defense industry to arm Kyiv's forces, Ukrainska Pravda reported on July 11, citing data from the Strategic Industries Ministry.
Kyiv has sought to convince allied countries to donate arms to Ukraine's military via direct purchases from Ukrainian companies, as Kyiv's defense budget does not match the capacities of domestic weapons production.
While the currently pledged sum is still a far cry from the $10 billion benchmark presented by Strategic Industries Minister Alexander Kamyshin in May, it shows that the initiative is well underway.
Ukraine aims for foreign partners to invest the $10-billion sum as part of a campaign called Zbroyari: Manufacturing Freedom.
The first country to enter into such an agreement with Ukraine was Denmark, penning the deal on a specialized mechanism in June. Copenhagen's commitment has amounted to $198.5 million, covering – among else – the recently announced 18 pieces of Ukrainian Bohdana howitzers.
Canada became the second donor-investor, allocating $2.1 million to the purchase of Ukrainian drones. The Netherlands has also joined the initiative, promising to finance 17.5 million euros ($19 million) worth of naval drones and 20 million euros ($21.7 million) worth of first-person view (FPV) drones.
The largest "catch" of the initiative should be 400 million euros ($433 million) from the EU, expected to be allocated under the 1.4-billion-euro tranche from the frozen Russian assets proceeds.
The exact mechanism and other details of the EU pledge remain unclear, Ukrainska Pravda wrote.
There are also efforts to entice countries like the U.K., the U.S., and Germany to participate in the process, which is challenging as all these states boast a well-developed arms industry.
Kyiv hopes to pitch its products as a cheaper but high-quality alternative to convince hesitant buyers.
Ukraine is expanding defense industry cooperation with Western parties on other levels as well. Germany's Rheinmetall recently opened its first armored vehicle plant in Ukraine, planning to open other factories in the near future.
Other arms industry players, such as the U.S. company Northrop Grumman, also plan to set up shop in Ukraine, with the said firm concluding a contract with Ukraine on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Washington.
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.
Chris York
