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.
Patriot air defense launchers at a German military base in Sanitz on June 11, 2024. (President Volodymyr Zelensky/Telegram)
The United States has transferred around 90 Patriot air defense interceptors from storage in Israel to Poland for delivery to Ukraine, sources familiar with the operation told Axios.
The transfer comes as part of efforts by the Pentagon to bolster Ukraine’s air defense capabilities against Russian attacks on critical infrastructure. This marks the most significant delivery of weapons involving Israel to Ukraine since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion nearly three years ago.
The Patriot air defense system was officially decommissioned by the Israeli Air Force in April 2023, over three decades after it was first provided to Israel during the Gulf War. With Israel now relying on its own advanced air defense technologies, such as the Iron Dome, the Patriot system had been relegated to training or storage.
Following its retirement, Ukrainian officials approached both the U.S. and Israel with a proposal to return the missiles to the U.S. for refurbishment and subsequent delivery to Ukraine, Axios reports.
Despite the plan, Israel initially delayed its decision due to concerns that Russia might retaliate by supplying advanced weaponry to Iran. According to a Ukrainian official, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu refused to engage in discussions about the proposal for weeks. However, Netanyahu reportedly approved the transfer in late September.
The Ukrainian official alleged that Netanyahu sought a concession from President Volodymyr Zelensky regarding an annual pilgrimage of ultra-Orthodox Israelis to Uman, Ukraine, before agreeing to the Patriot deal. Netanyahu’s office has denied any connection between the two issues.
In preparation for the transfer, U.S. Air Force C-17 cargo planes recently transported the interceptors from an air base in southern Israel to Rzeszów, Poland, a key logistics hub for military aid to Ukraine. Along with the interceptors, additional equipment, such as radars, will be sent to the U.S. for refurbishment before final delivery to Ukraine. The interceptors are compatible with the Patriot batteries already operational in Ukraine.
An Israeli official said that Russia was informed in advance of the transfer, emphasizing that Israel was merely returning the Patriots to the U.S. rather than directly supplying weapons to Ukraine. The official compared the move to a prior U.S. decision to transfer artillery shells from storage in Israel to Ukraine. A spokesperson for Netanyahu’s office confirmed that the Patriot system had been returned to the U.S. but said they had no knowledge of whether the interceptors had been sent to Ukraine.
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.
Boldizsar Gyori
