"I am waiting to see who will come from Russia, and then I will decide which steps Ukraine should take. So far, the signals from them in the media are unconvincing," President Volodymyr Zelensky said.
The air raid was announced at around 2:30 p.m. local time, while the explosion sounded around 2:50 p.m. The number of victims killed rose to three, Sumy Oblast Governor Oleh Hryhorov reported at 8:42 p.m.
If confirmed, the decision would mark the first time since Russia's full-scale invasion that President Volodymyr Zelensky is absent, either physically or virtually, from a NATO summit.
The disclosure follows a warning from Digital Affairs Minister Krzysztof Gawkowski, who on May 6 said Moscow was carrying out an "unprecedented" interference campaign.
Brazilian President Lula da Silva claimed that Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha had appealed to his Brazilian counterpart, Mauro Vieira, to ask Putin if he was willing to conclude a peace agreement.
Earlier reporting from the Washington Post cited a former Russian official who claimed Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Putin’s foreign policy aide, Yuri Ushakov, would represent Moscow in the talks.
The Council of Europe on May 14 approved the creation of a special tribunal to prosecute Russia's top leadership for the crime of aggression against Ukraine, Ukrainian lawmaker Maria Mezentseva reported.
Viktoria Roshchyna, 27, disappeared in August 2023 while reporting from Ukraine's Russian-occupied territories. Moscow admitted she was in Russian detention the following year.
President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks during a joint press conference with Prime Minister of Denmark Mette Frederiksen in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Nov. 19, 2024 (by Ihor Kuznietsov/Novyny Live/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images)
To end the "hot phase of the war," NATO would have to offer membership to Ukrainian territory under government control, with the invitation recognizing the country's internationally recognized borders, President Volodymyr Zelensky said in an interview with Sky News
"If we want to stop the hot stage of the war, we should quickly take under NATO umbrella the territory of Ukraine that we have under our control. That's what we need to do first, and then Ukraine can get back the other parts of its territory in a diplomatic way," Zelensky said during the interview, which was published on Nov. 29.
According to the president, Kyiv has never considered such a proposal, since "no one has ever offered that to us officially."
Donald Trump's election has intensified uncertainty around Ukraine's war effort. He criticized U.S. military support provided to Ukraine by Joe Biden's administration. Some reports also indicate this would entail forcing Ukraine to cede territory and at least temporarily give up on its NATO accession plans.
Zelensky's latest remarks are somewhat at odds with his previous statements. He said that the signals of Ukraine's accession to NATO in parts is "nonsense," and Ukraine "will never exchange any status for any of our territories."
The president's comments to Sky News imply that territories currently occupied by Russia would not fall under the "NATO umbrella" in this scenario.
Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia oblasts are partially controlled by Russian troops. Russia claims to have annexed the whole territory of those regions in 2022 despite not controlling two regional capitals — Kherson and Zaporizhzhia. Moscow also controls all of Ukraine's Crimean peninsula.
Throughout 2024, Ukraine has faced a challenging situation in its defense of the front line, particularly in Donetsk Oblast, where Russia has consistently concentrated its offensive potential.
Ukraine applied for NATO membership in September 2022 but has yet to receive a formal invitation.
Despite high expectations in Kyiv, the last two allied summits brought only new steps toward deepening Ukraine-NATO cooperation and a declaration that the country's membership path is "irreversible."
Kateryna Denisova works as a News Editor at the Kyiv Independent. She previously worked as a news editor at the NV media outlet for four years, covering mainly Ukrainian and international politics. Kateryna holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Taras Shevchenko University of Kyiv. She also was a fellow at journalism schools in the Czech Republic and Germany.
Oleg Sukhov
