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.
Sébastien Lecornu, Minister of Armed Forces of France, speaks at the press conference with the German Defense Minister after the joint talks on Sept. 22, 2022. (Carsten Koall/picture alliance via Getty Images)
France will provide Ukraine with 195 million euros ($211 million) in military aid using the interest accrued from frozen Russian assets, French Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu told La Tribune in an interview published March 8.
The additional aid "will enable the delivery of 155-mm shells as well as AASM gliding bombs which arm the Ukrainian Mirage 2000s ," Lecornu said.
Lecornu added that France is accelerating the transfer of older equipment to Ukraine, including tanks and armoured vehicles.
In October 2024, Group of Seven (G7) countries came to an agreement that pledged to provide Ukraine with almost $50 billion loan backed by the revenue from foreign Russian assets.
The announcement from France comes just days after the United Kingdomsigned an agreement with Kyiv on March 1 to provide Ukraine with a loan worth 2.26 billion pounds ($2.84 billion) backed by frozen Russian assets.
The loan will go towards "purchasing defense equipment according to Ukraine's needs," the U.K. Finance Ministry said.
While Western countries have frozen $300 billion in Russian assets, they can only access the annual income generated by these funds, approximately $3.2 billion. These profits will back the $50-billion loan to Kyiv, while the vast majority of the assets are frozen in European countries.
France, one of Ukraine's staunchest supporters, has taken steps alongside the U.K. in recent months to provide European leadership in supporting Ukraine, amid Kyiv's tumultuous relationship with the Trump administration.
Trump has repeatedly called for European countries to step up to support Ukraine, including providing additional aid funding, lambasting the previous Biden administration for sending too much aid funding to the embattled nation. On March 4, Trump halted military aid shipments to Ukraine following a heated exchange with President Volodymyr Zelensky in the White House.
U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on March 2 that a number of European nations, including the U.K. and France, are developing a 'coalition of the willing' that will include "planes in the air and boots on the ground" in an effort to negotiate a successful ceasefire in Ukraine.
Reuters reported on March 6, citing diplomatic sources, that France and the U.K. aim to finalize a peace plan with Ukraine "in days" to present to the United States.
Dmytro Basmat is a senior news editor for The Kyiv Independent. He previously worked in Canadian politics as a communications lead and spokesperson for a national political party, and as a communications assistant for a Canadian Member of Parliament. Basmat has a Master's degree in Political Management from Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada, and a Bachelor of Arts in Politics and Governance from Toronto Metropolitan University.
Martin Fornusek
