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."
President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky speaks to the media during a joint press conference on March 08, 2024 in Istanbul, Turkey. (Photo by Chris McGrath/Getty Images)
President Volodymyr Zelensky passed a list of Ukrainian citizens, including Crimean Tatars, captured by Russia to Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan after their meeting on March 8 in Istanbul.
Russia has illegally imprisoned 116 Crimean Tatars as of February 2023, including activist Nariman Dzhelialov, who served as the First Deputy Chairman of the Mejlis, a representative body of the Crimean Tatar people.
"We have to free them all: the soldiers and the civilians, those who were captured while defending their people, and those who are being repressed because of who he or she is," Zelensky saidduring the joint press conference.
According to Zelensky, the list of captured Crimean Tatars "has only got bigger," and "only a few people" were brought back by exchange procedures before the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion.
Zelensky expressed hope that Erdogan would help to bring more Crimean Tatars back from Russian captivity, stressing that no other world leader has able to do so so far.
"I count on President Erdogan. I am sure that he will be able to do it (to bring Crimean Tatars back to Ukraine), at least he would try," Zelensky said.
Members of the Crimean Tatar community are regularly indicted with trumped-up charges of extremism and terrorism and sentenced to lengthy prison terms in kangaroo courts. Also, over 5,000 human rights violations have been recorded in Crimea since the all-out war started in 2022.
Russia occupied the peninsula in 2014 after the EuroMaidan Revolution ousted the pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych. Since then, the occupation authorities have been carrying out repressions against pro-Ukrainian activists and Crimean Tatars.
Anastasiia Lapatina
