"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.
Situation in Zaporizhzhia Oblast 'difficult,' but 'predicted,' unit says
Editor's note: The article was corrected to indicate that Kostiantyn Denysov is a spokesperson for Ukraine's Svoboda Legion, not the Freedom of Russia Legion.
The situation on the Zaporizhzhia front is becoming "very difficult and tense," but the development was "predicted," a spokesperson of Ukraine's Svoboda Legion, Kostiantyn Denysov, said on Dec. 7.
"Their infantry assault groups are trying to find weaknesses in our defenses," he said in an interview with KYIV24.
"Under the cover of armored vehicles, they are trying to figure out how to confront tanks and armored personnel carriers."
The comment comes after a series of warnings about, and attacks on, Zaporizhzhia Oblast, which is becoming an increasingly active part of the frontline.
Denysov said the Russian attacks were still causing difficulties, but added "all this was predicted" as it is a repeat of a pattern observed previously.
"They trained their infantry and practiced with armored vehicles," he said.
"We all understood very well why they were doing all this, and we can already see that they are gradually starting to send bigger groups to attack."
The Svoboda Legion is an association of the ultranationalist Svoboda party's members serving in Ukraine's Defense Forces during the full-scale war with Russia.
President Zelensky said on Nov. 25 that Ukraine was "aware of the existence of threats" in the Zaporizhzhia sector.
Assault groups arrived in November, and Ukrainian soldiers repelled an attempted offensive in the oblast.Ukraine has been building heavy fortifications just in preparations for a potential Russian offensive in the region.
Martin Fornusek
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