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.
Photo for illustrative purposes: In this handout image released by the South Korean Defense Ministry, an Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) is fired during a joint training between the United States and South Korea at an undisclosed location on Oct. 5, 2022. (South Korean Defense Ministry via Getty Images)
The U.S. military’s top commander in Europe, Gen. Chris Cavoli, has drawn up a list of American weapons systems that could strengthen Ukraine's fight against Russia but which the Biden administration has yet to supply.
According to sources familiar with the classified report submitted to Congress last month, Cavoli’s recommendations include the Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM) and the Link 16 communication system, a secure network used by NATO to enhance air and missile defense coordination, according to CNN.
Despite repeated requests from Ukraine for these systems, the U.S. has withheld them, likely due to concerns about advanced U.S. technology falling into Russian hands, particularly with the Link 16 system. Additionally, U.S. officials have questioned the utility of air-launched missiles like JASSM without Ukraine first establishing air superiority.
Ukraine continues to push for more advanced weaponry from the U.S., alongside efforts to lift restrictions on the use of American long-range missile systems.
During his recent meeting with President Joe Biden at the White House, President Volodymyr Zelensky presented a detailed list of high-priority targets within Russia he wants to strike using U.S.-supplied ATACMS missiles, sources said.
Although Biden has blocked the use of U.S. long-range systems for strikes deep into Russia, he did not dismiss Zelensky’s latest request outright but remained non-committal. The two leaders agreed to continue discussions, though officials suggest the U.S. will unlikely shift its stance on long-range missiles anytime soon.
Amid these deliberations, the future of U.S. support for Ukraine remains in question, especially with the presidential election looming and uncertainties about long-term military aid beyond 2025.
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.
Anna Belokur
