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."
Ukraine's Agriculture Minister Mykola Solskyi (Ukraine's Agriculture Ministry/Facebook)
Agriculture Minister Mykola Solskyi, suspected of illegal acquisition of state-owned land, submitted his resignation to the Ukrainian parliament on April 25, Parliament Speaker Ruslan Stefanchuk announced on Facebook.
"(Solskyi's) letter will be considered during the nearest plenary session," Stefanchuk wrote.
Solskyi is suspected of illegally appropriating Ukrainian state-owned land worth Hr 291 million ($7.4 million) and attempting to seize another plot worth an additional Hr 190 million ($4.8 million), according to Ukraine's National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU).
Ukraine's Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO) announced on April 24 that it will request the arrest of Solskyiwith an alternative option of a Hr 200 million ($5 million) bail, Economic Pravda reported.
NABU said at least four people were involved in the scheme, which involved destroying the documents that showed the Ukrainian state had permanent ownership of two plots of land in Sumy Oblast.
Following this, the conspirators, allegedly including Solskyi, worked from 2017-2021 to create new fictitious land ownership documents.
Solskyi has denied the allegations on April 24, saying he was not planning on resigning. He said that the case concerned the period of 2017-2018 when Solskyi served as a lawyer, not as a minister.
Elsa Court
