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."
Zelensky talks to reporters while meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden in Dec. 2023. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
A series of government firings, resignations and reshuffles have strained relations between Kyiv and Western allies and raised concerns about how Ukraine can deal with fixing the country's energy infrastructure as it comes under repeated attacks by Russia, the Financial Times (FT) reported on June 10, citing unnamed Ukrainian and Western officials.
The media report comes on the same day that Mustafa Nayyem, the head of Ukraine's Agency for Restoration and Infrastructure Development, resigned, saying that "systemic obstacles" have limited his ability to do his job. According to media reports, two other agency officials resigned along with Nayyem.
Earlier in May, Ukraine's Parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, voted to dismiss Infrastructure Minister and Deputy Prime Minister for Reconstruction Oleksandr Kubrakov.
The moves have come during months when Ukraine faced criticism over the lack of fortifications built to help fend off Russia's advance into Kharkiv Oblast last month, as well as a renewed aerial assault on Ukraine's energy infrastructure.
"Six Ukrainian and western officials told the FT that a series of firings, resignations and government reshuffles directed by Zelensky in recent months had caused tension between Kyiv and the western partners financing Ukraine’s defense and reconstruction," the FT wrote.
"All of them told the FT that they had warned Zelensky and his government over what they saw as disruptive and inexplicable moves."
According to the FT, political rivalries are behind the shake-ups and Ukraine's Western allies are not pleased.
"The U.S. and other western partners want a normal, predictable relationship with their Ukrainian counterparts," one Ukrainian government official told the FT.
"Right now they are losing trust in Ukraine’s government because of personnel decisions that they do not understand."
Chris York is news operations editor at the Kyiv Independent. Before joining the team, he was head of news at the Kyiv Post. Previously, back in Britain, he spent nearly a decade working for HuffPost UK. He holds an MA in Conflict, Development, and Security from the University of Leeds.
Nate Ostiller
