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."
Alyona Alyona in the Azovstal t-shirt (Instagram/Alyona Alyona)
Ukraine's public broadcaster said on May 15 that it did not receive a fine over Azovstal T-shirts worn by Ukrainian artist Alyona Alyona and her delegation at the Eurovision Song Contest on the weekend.
In an Instagram post on May 14, Alyona Alyona, whose real name is Aliona Savranenko, said the clothing printed with the logo "Free Azovstal Defenders" had incurred a penalty from the organizers.
"We took a big risk, but it worked out. We just got off with a financial fine," the original post said.
An edited version later on only stated: "We took a lot of risks, but everything worked out."
Ukraine's public broadcaster Suspilne said in a statement on May 15 that it had not received any "complaints or fines for alleged violations of the rules."
Ukraine's Alyona Alyona and Jerry Heil won third place at the 68th Eurovision competition on May 12 with their song "Teresa & Maria."
This year's Eurovision was particularly politically sensitive – the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), an alliance of public service media organizations that organize the contest, cracked down on performers who tried to signal support for Palestine amid the ongoing invasion of Gaza, which has killed over 35,000 Palestinians since October 2023.
Protesters criticized Eurovision for allowing Israel to participate in the 2024 contest.
Chris York
