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."
U.S. State Department Spokesperson Tammy Bruce called for "concrete proposals from both sides" in order for Washington to "move forward" in peace negotiations.
"If they speak to each other in Russian, he doesn't know what they are saying," one Western official told NBC News. Michael McFaul, former U.S. ambassador to Russia, called Witkoff's approach "a very bad idea."
Tougher sanctions "should be applied to (Russia's) banking and energy sectors, targeting fossil fuels, oil, and the shadow fleet," the leaders of Ukraine, the U.K., France, Germany, and Poland said in a joint statement.
"Russia is ready for negotiations without any preconditions," Putin claimed in an address marking the end of the three-day Victory Day ceasefire. He invited Ukraine to begin talks in Istanbul on May 15.
While serving as a bishop in Peru, Robert Prevost, now Pope Leo XIV, called the full-scale war "a true invasion, imperialist in nature, where Russia seeks to conquer territory for reasons of power."
Speaking to CNN on May 10, Peskov commented on the latest ceasefire proposal from Ukraine and Europe, responding that Russia needs to "think about" it, but is "resistant" to pressure.
Speaking at a press conference in Kyiv on May 10, President Volodymyr Zelensky rebuked the idea of a demilitarized zone in the war and emphasized the importance of first securing a ceasefire.
Dmitry Medvedev, Russia's former president now serving as deputy chairman of the country's Security Council, gives a speech in Volgograd on March 12, 2024. The slogan reads: "Together! For Russia! For the president!". (Yekaterina Shtukina/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
Dmitry Medvedev, the deputy chairman of Russia's Security Council, told the state-run TASS media outlet on May 20 that President Volodymyr Zelensky is a "legitimate military target."
Medvedev, who previously served as Russia's president from 2008 to 2012, has regularly used bellicose language in an attempt to intimidate the West and Ukraine.
In February, Medvedev threatened that Russia would use nuclear weapons against the U.S., the U.K., Germany, and Ukraine if Moscow lost control of all of the territory of Ukraine it currently occupies.
"(Zelensky) already heads a political regime hostile to Russia, which is waging war on us," Medvedev said.
"And the leaders of countries waging war are always considered a legitimate military target."
Medvedev had previously portrayed himself as a liberal but has become one of Russia's most aggressive pro-war hawks since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in 2022. He has increasingly played the role formerly filled by the late politician Vladimir Zhirinovsky, famous for his flamboyant and aggressive rhetoric.
Zelensky reportedly avoided several assassination attempts at the beginning of the full-scale invasion.
The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) also said earlier in May 2024 that it had uncovered a network of Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) agents who were planning to assassinate Zelensky and other high-ranking officials in Ukraine.
Abbey Fenbert
