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."
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.
The footage purporting to show a burning ferry in the Kavkaz port in Russia's Krasnodar Krai on Aug. 23, 2024. (Astra/Telegram)
Satellite images published on Aug. 23 show a ferry destroyed by a Ukrainian attack on the Kavkaz port in Russia's Krasnodar Krai on the previous day.
The images were obtained by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty's Schemes investigative project.
Ukraine's navy on Aug. 23 confirmed the sinking of a Russian ferry called the Conro Trader at the Kavkaz port in Russia's Krasnodar Krai following the strike.
The Kavkaz port, located on the Chushka Spit in the Kerch Strait, is one of Russia's largest passenger ports. Its main task is to serve the Kerch ferry crossing in Russian-occupied Crimea.
The satellite image, recorded by the Earth imaging company Planet Labs on Aug. 23, showed the destroyed ferry and several small vessels nearby "that may have been damaged," Schemes said.
According to the photo, a part of the railroad track leading to the water was also damaged.
#Satellite imagery by @planet from August 23, available to Schemes (@cxemu), shows the destroyed ferry and several small vessels nearby that could also have been damaged by the strike on the #Kavkaz port in the Krasnodar Territory of the Russian Federation. pic.twitter.com/A9liA4MYe0
The Crimean Wind Telegram channel on Aug. 22 published photos and videos showing smoke rising over the Taman Peninsula in Krasnodar Krai.
Soon after the attack, the ferry in a Russian port sank, local Russian authorities reported, adding there were 30 fuel tankers onboard at the moment of the strike. The work of the Kerch ferry crossing was halted, according to the Russian Transport Ministry.
Since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion, Ukraine has regularly launched attacks on occupied Crimea as well as neighboring Krasnodar Krai. Kyiv has struck ferry crossings between occupied Crimea and Russia's Krasnodar Krai several times.
Ukraine's military intelligence chief Kyrylo Budanov said in early August that Ukraine is working on a "complex solution" that could destroy the illegally constructed Kerch Bridge in the coming months.
Dinara Khalilova
