This week, the world watched in anticipation for Russia’s Victory Day parade after President Volodymyr Zelensky commented that he could not guarantee the safety of those attending. Meanwhile, the European Union moves one step forward to banning Russian gas from the European continent. It is also revealed this week that U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has fallen out of step with the White House.
"(Russian) President (Vladimir) Putin... doesn't want to have a ceasefire agreement with Ukraine, but rather wants to meet on Thursday, in Turkey, to negotiate a possible end to the bloodbath. Ukraine should agree to this, immediately," U.S. President Donald Trump said.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio will travel to to Antalya, Turkey, for a NATO foreign ministers’ meeting from May 14–16, where he is expected to address the war in Ukraine and push for stronger Allied defense commitments.
The Kremlin said the leaders held a detailed discussion about the Russian initiative and Erdogan expressed full support, reiterating Turkey’s readiness to provide a venue and assist in organizing the negotiations.
Erdogan told Macron that international cooperation is critical for initiating peace negotiations and the "sensitive implementation" of Ukraine’s recovery and reconstruction processes, the Turkish Presidency reported.
The assault began around 2 a.m. on May 11, with Russian forces deploying 108 Shahed-type attack drones and decoy UAVs from multiple directions, Ukraine’s Air Force said.
"Think of the hundreds of thousands of lives that will be saved as this never ending 'bloodbath' hopefully comes to an end... I will continue to work with both sides to make sure that it happens."
Ukrainian militaries supervise an M142 HIMARS launching a rocket in the Bakhmut direction on May 18, 2023, in Donetsk Oblast. (Photo by Serhii Mykhalchuk/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images)
Washington is expected to provide an additional $200 million in military aid for Ukraine, an unidentified U.S. official told VOA.
The package will contain critical defense capabilities and include the AIM-9 Sidewinder air-to-air missile, artillery munitions for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS), TOW anti-tank missiles, and 155mm and 105mm rounds.
It also includes anti-UAV tools and electronic warfare equipment to help Ukraine counter Russia’s growing drone capabilities.
The Biden administration has provided $44 billion in security assistance to Kyiv since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022.
In September, the U.S. Congress did not include more aid to Ukraine as part of a bill passed to keep the federal government operating.
The Department of Defense still has about $5 billion approved funding for military aid to Kyiv.
Lance Luo (Li P. Luo) is a news editor at the Kyiv Independent. Previously, he worked at Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and Hromadske Television in Kyiv. He also spent three years in finance and strategy consulting. Mr. Luo graduated from the University of Southern California and serves as an arbitrator at FINRA.
Alexander Khrebet
