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 woman walks by destroyed buildings 20 miles west from the front lines of fighting on Jan. 20, 2023 in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
An autocratic regime like Russia can readily prioritize the expansion of its defense industries over economic well-being to sustain their military actions in Ukraine, along with help from Iran and North Korea, said Lt Gen. Steven L. Basham, U.S. Air Forces in Europe deputy commander.
Speaking at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies event "Transatlantic Security After 75 Years of NATO" on May 10, Basham noted that the West's defense industrial base is also accelerating: "Make no mistake. It's picking up speed. It will continue to accelerate past the capability of Russia. The time that is being spent by Russia inside Ukraine is also time that we have to get our industrial base to where it needs to be."
Lt. Basham said that Russia, once renowned for its defense exports, now appears to be increasingly reliant on importing both equipment and technology, notably from China. "The challenges that Russia faces in their own equipment, they're actually making up for by developing that relationship with China."
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War Notes
"The defense of our nation starts well outside the borders of the United States," he said. "All [that Ukraine is] asking for is our continued unwavering, consistent, continuous support. I think that's actually what they're getting right now. We've just got to stay that course. And I think we need to do a much better job of explaining [that to] the American people," he said, according to the U.S. Department of Defense report.
Basham also highlighted the importance of defending NATO, saying, "Make no mistake. No matter how this ends in Ukraine, Russia will not stop with Ukraine unless they're stopped in Ukraine."
"You have to be with your allies to be able to integrate. You have to be with your allies to campaign, to exercise. And by the way, it can't be just episodic," he said, regarding U.S. commitment to NATO.
Olena Goncharova is the Head of North America desk at The Kyiv Independent, where she has previously worked as a development manager and Canadian correspondent. She first joined the Kyiv Post, Ukraine's oldest English-language newspaper, as a staff writer in January 2012 and became the newspaper’s Canadian correspondent in June 2018. She is based in Edmonton, Alberta. Olena has a master’s degree in publishing and editing from the Institute of Journalism in Taras Shevchenko National University in Kyiv. Olena was a 2016 Alfred Friendly Press Partners fellow who worked for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette for six months. The program is administered by the University of Missouri School of Journalism in Columbia.
Serhii Korovayny
