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 captive named Umit allegedly agreed to serve in the Russian army in exchange for Russian citizenship and a monetary reward of 2 million rubles ($25,000).
Russia's Buryatia Republic declared a state of emergency on May 13 over massive forest fires that have engulfed multiple regions in the Russian Far East.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko's statement came as Strong Shield 5 exercises involving military personnel from other NATO countries began in Lithuania.
"Amendments to the Budget Code are needed to implement the provisions on funding the U.S.-Ukrainian Reconstruction Investment Fund," lawmaker Roksolana Pidlasa said.
During reconnaissance in an unspecified front-line sector, Special Operations Forces' operators detected Buk-M3 and Uragan-1 on combat duty, the unit said.
Karine Jean-Pierre, White House press secretary, speaks during a news conference in the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House in Washington, DC, US, on Oct. 26, 2023. (Anna Rose Layden/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
The White House won't discuss the possibility of separating aid for Ukraine into separate legislation from the national security bill currently being negotiated in Congress, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said on Feb. 1.
The announcement comes after U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson reportedly told a group of Baltic political leaders that President Joe Biden's national security proposal that combines aid for Ukraine with border policy reform would likely be split up.
"That's not what we want to see. We want the additional national security funding request to move forward. That's what we're working on," she said.
Jean-Pierre emphasized that the White House is currently focused on getting the national security bill approved as it is.
"That's one of the reasons why we're having a very important bipartisan discussion in the Senate to figure out what we can do for border security, but we want this supplemental request to the national security bill to move forward," the spokeswoman added.
The funding request of over $110 billion, including around $61 billion for Ukraine, has been stuck in Congress since autumn 2023. Senate Republicans blocked the approval of the $61 billion in aid last month, largely over concerns the bill did not contain border security measures.
As a way to expedite the passage of aid for Ukraine, intensified border security measures were integrated into the aid deal. House Republicans, including Speaker Johnson, have stated that newly developed provisions are insufficient.
Johnson's other comments on Ukraine indicated that his concerns about the ability for new aid to be passed were not limited to border issues. Many Republicans have said they are categorically opposed to further aid for Ukraine, regardless of compromises on the border and immigration.
Earlier this month, U.S. National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby announced that the U.S. had run out of existing money for aid for Ukraine, and "there's no other magical pot to dip into" unless Congress passes a new funding package.
Rachel Amran is a news editor at the Kyiv Independent. She previously worked on the Europe and Central Asia team of Human Rights Watch investigating war crimes in Ukraine. Rachel holds a master's degree in Russian, Eastern European, and Eurasian Regional Studies from Columbia University.
Anna Husarska
