U.S. and European officials held talks on May 12, during which Washington made it clear that it wanted to allow talks between Russia and Ukraine before increasing pressure on Vladimir Putin, sources told Bloomberg.
According to Steve Witkoff, the key topics in the peace discussions are the fate of the five partially or fully occupied Ukrainian regions, the status of the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, and Ukraine's access to the Dnipro River and the Black Sea.
Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa is reportedly offering a deal that would give U.S. companies access to Syria's natural wealth, reminiscent of the minerals agreement Washington recently signed with Kyiv.
Russia attacked Ukraine with drones and guided bombs during the night, targeting multiple regions after the May 12 deadline for an unconditional ceasefire expired.
"Only member states can take out loans within the 150 billion euros instrument, but they can use these funds for joint procurement with Ukraine," EU Defense Commissioner Andrius Kubilius said.
"We agreed to pursue ambitious measures to reduce Russia's ability to wage war by limiting Kremlin revenues, disrupting the shadow fleet, tightening the Oil Price Cap, and reducing our remaining imports of Russian energy."
Zelensky on May 12 removed Lieutenant General Ivan Havryliuk from the Headquarters of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, the top command and control body for all branches of Ukraine's defense apparatus.
Ukraine remains the most mined country in the world. Nearly one-third of Ukraine's territory, approximately 174,000 square kilometers, had been mined since Russia began its full-scale invasion of the country in February 2022.
The phone call comes as Moscow once again rejected a 30-day ceasefire, with Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Maria Zakharova claiming that a ceasefire would give "Kyiv a break to restore its military potential and continue its confrontation with Russia."
Flight MH17 departed from Amsterdam Schiphol Airport en-route to Kuala Lumpur International Airport on July 17, 2014. Three hours into the flight, the Boeing-777 was shot down by Russian proxy forces using a Buk surface-to-air missile above Ukraine’s Donetsk Oblast.
"I am grateful for the support and the readiness at the highest level to promote diplomacy," President Volodymyr Zelensky said of the phone conservation with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. "We share the same view on the need for a ceasefire."
A Ukrainian citizen convicted of spying for Russia being detained by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU). (Security Service of Ukraine/Telegram)
A Ukrainian citizen who was recruited by Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) and attempted to create his own group of informants was found guilty of treason and sentenced to 15 years in prison, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) reported on Dec. 19.
According to the SBU, the convicted spy had a long history of fighting with Russian forces or their proxies, spanning as far back as the war in the early 1990s in Transnistria, the Russian-backed breakaway region of Moldova.
The man was previously wanted by Ukrainian authorities in connection to his role in attempting to instigate pro-Russian riots in Odesa in 2014, following which he fled to Russian-controlled Transnistria.
The SBU said that he was recruited by FSB agents while in Transnistria in 2019.
After the beginning of the full-scale invasion, he attempted to create his own network of informants and to recruit SBU agents to gather information about the location of Ukrainian troops in the south of Ukraine, according to the report.
The SBU lured him into Ukraine using the pretense of SBU agents pretending to be potential accomplices. He was then detained in Odesa Oblast.
The investigation was carried out in coordination with the Odesa Oblast Prosecutor's Office.
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.
Alexander Khrebet
