Three were injured in Russia's Kursk Oblast when the town of Rylsk was allegedly struck by a missile attack on May 11, local governor Alexander Khinshtein claimed.
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.
President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks during the 2024 Munich Security Conference in Munich, Germany on Feb. 17, 2024. (Johannes Simon/Getty Images)
President Volodymyr Zelensky participated in a summit on Ukraine convened by French President Emmanuel Macron on Feb. 26 in Paris, joining other EU leaders remotely, he said in his evening address.
According to Zelensky, the main topic of the meeting was "everything that strengthens us," including Ukraine's ability to produce weapons, military assistance, and continuity of support.
The summit took place amid uncertainty over stalled U.S. aid to Ukraine and Russia's attempts to advance in several sectors in the east and south of the country following thewithdrawal of Ukrainian troops from Avdiivka in Donetsk Oblast.
Speaking to the leaders, Zelensky noted that this year Ukraine and its allies should work jointly to ensure that “Russia loses its deadly advantages, as it has already lost its advantages on land and at sea,” the President’s Office wrote.
“We have to prove that we can deprive Russia of its air supremacy, its financing of aggression, and its political power,” Zelensky said.
The president added that 2024 should be the year when the West confiscates Russian assets and tightens sanctions against Moscow.
Western countries and other partners immobilized around $300 billion of the Russian Central Bank's assets at the start of the full-scale invasion. According to the World Bank, the estimated cost of Ukraine's post-war recovery and reconstruction has risen to $486 billion.
The Kyiv Independent
