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."
A man rides a bicycle under a Russian sham election campaign billboard showing Kremlin-installed proxies in eastern Ukraine running with Russia's ruling party, United Russia, in occupied Donetsk on Aug. 12, 2023. (Photo: AFP via Getty Images)
Several countries, including the U.K., the U.S., and Canada, issued public statements denouncing Russia for holding an illegal vote in the occupied territories of Ukraine.
Russia began three days of voting on March 15 in a pseudo-democratic presidential election that is expected to grant Vladimir Putin, who has been in power since 1999, six more years in office.
Moscow is also organizing voting in occupied Crimea and parts of Ukraine's Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia oblasts in violation of international law.
"Russia has no legitimate basis to hold elections on the sovereign Ukrainian territory of Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk, Luhansk, and Crimea. These areas are a part of Ukraine," the U.K. Foreign Office said on X.
The U.S. State Department said that "Russia is continuing to undermine Ukraine's sovereignty, territorial integrity, and political independence through sham elections held in occupied Ukrainian territories."
"The U.S. does not and will never recognize the legitimacy or outcome of these sham elections," State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said.
According to the Canadian Foreign Ministry, the sham election is "another direct attack on Ukraine's sovereignty, territorial integrity, and independence that contravenes international law, including the United Nations Charter."
"The world is not duped. We will continue to stand with Ukraine until its victory," the Canadian ministry said on X.
Ukraine, 56 more countries, and the European Union condemned the vote following a U.N. Security Council meeting on March 15, Permanent Representative of Ukraine to the United Nations Sergiy Kyslytsya said.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also denounced "the efforts of the Russian Federation to hold its presidential elections in areas of Ukraine occupied by the Russian Federation," according to his spokesperson.
Russia declared annexation of partially occupied Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Luhansk, and Donetsk oblasts in September 2022, a step denounced by Ukraine and the international community as illegal and void.
The Crimean peninsula was illegally annexed in March 2014 following a sham referendum staged by Russia in the absence of any international observers and with armed Russian soldiers present at polling locations.
Katie Marie Davies
