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.
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.
President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks while visiting with wounded Ukrainian soldiers at the Staten Island University Hospital in New York City on Sept. 18, 2023. (Angela Weiss / AFP via Getty Images)
President Volodymyr Zelensky called newly appointed Portuguese Prime Minister Luis Montenegro to discuss a future security agreement between Ukraine and Portugal.
Zelensky and his Finnish counterpart, Alexander Stubb, signed on April 3 a 10-year security agreementbetween the two countries. Finland became the eighth state to sign a bilateral security deal with Kyiv, as previously the U.K., Germany, France, Denmark, Canada, Italy, and the Netherlands did so.
The agreements are based on a pledge made by the Group of Seven (G7) last July, which aims to bolster Ukraine's ability to resist Russian aggression. Portugal also joined the G7 Group in the summer.
"We discussed the status of prior agreements on defense and assigned the teams to begin the preparation of bilateral security agreement within a G7 declaration framework," Zelensky said, adding that parties coordinated their future contacts as well.
Zelensky also congratulated Montenegro on his appointment and thanked him for the "principled position" toward Ukraine's support.
Earlier, Portugal joined the Czech-led initiative to provide Ukraine with hundreds of thousands of artillery shells, pledging 100 million euros ($108.9 million) to the effort.
Portugal is also one of 11 members of an international coalition to train Ukrainian pilots on F-16 fighter jets, which was announced by former Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov at the NATO summit in Vilnius in July 2023.
Daniil Ukhorskiy
