"There is no point in prolonging the killings. And I will wait for Putin on Thursday in Turkey," President Volodymyr Zelensky said.
"We cannot allow NATO's military infrastructure to get that close to our borders," Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said.
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.
Preliminary findings suggest that one of the men killed the other before taking his own life.
Western leaders dismissed the Kremlin's proposal for talks in Istanbul on May 15 as insufficient.
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 pope said he was praying to God to grant the world the "miracle of peace."
Ushakov’s comments follow Russian President Vladimir Putin's May 11 invitation for direct talks with Ukraine in Istanbul starting May 15.
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.
Zelensky called a ceasefire the essential first step toward ending the war.
Next week could be critical in deciding future US involvement in Russia-Ukraine peace negotiations, Rubio says
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the upcoming week will be crucial for determining whether the U.S. will continue its involvement in efforts to end Russia’s war in Ukraine, NBC News reported on April 27.
"This is going to be a really important week in which we're going to have to decide whether we want to continue to engage in this effort, or whether it's time for us to shift our focus to other issues that are just as, if not more, important,” Rubio told NBC.
Rubio emphasized that prospects for reaching a peace agreement are closer than at any time in the past three years but acknowledged that a final deal has not yet been reached.
When asked how much longer U.S. President Donald Trump is willing to give Ukraine and Russia to reach an agreement, Rubio declined to set a specific deadline.
"It would be wrong to set a specific date... The president has spent a lot of time and energy on this, and I think we've brought the parties closer than they've been in a long time, but we're still not there," Rubio said.
He added that while there are reasons for optimism, it is also important to remain realistic about the situation.
Trump and Zelensky held a "productive" meeting in St. Peter's Basilica following the funeral ceremony — their first in-person encounter since their heated argument at the White House in February. While both sides praised the April 26 meeting as constructive, neither party disclosed the details of the leaders' conversation.
Meanwhile, Russia has intensified its strikes against civilian areas in Ukraine as Trump pushes for a peace deal, with a Russian attack killing at least 12 civilians and injuring around 90 in Kyiv on April 24.
Martin Fornusek
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