In an interview with French broadcaster TF1 on May 13, Macron discussed new Russia sanctions and stationing French nuclear weapons in other European countries as a deterrent against Russia.
Performing their song "Bird of Pray," Ukrainian band Ziferblat passed the Eurovision semi-finals on May 13, qualifying Ukraine for the grand final on May 17.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov confirmed that a Russian delegation will be in Istanbul on May 15 for direct peace talks with Ukraine. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Putin’s foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov will likely represent Russia.
The move follows Ukraine's ratification of the minerals agreement, deepening U.S.-Ukraine economic ties and signaling expanded U.S. involvement in Ukraine's long-term recovery.
"Ukraine has initiated a coordinated campaign to vilify Hungary in order to undermine our initiative to hold a poll on (Kyiv's) EU membership," Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz warned that further concessions from Ukraine during negotiations would be unreasonable if Russia continues to attack civilian targets.
U.S. President Donald Trump's special envoys, Steve Witkoff and Keith Kellogg, will travel to Istanbul for possible peace talks between Ukraine and Russia, Reuters reported on May 13, citing three undisclosed sources.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said he will meet with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara, but said both leaders are ready to fly to Istanbul if Russian President Vladimir Putin chooses to attend the talks there.
U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan at a news briefing at the White House on Dec. 4, 2023. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan distanced himself from an assertion from U.K. Defense Secretary Grant Shapps, who said earlier on May 22 that the U.S. and U.K. have evidence that China is supplying or about to supply lethal aid to Russia.
Sullivan said that while he has personally warned about the possibility since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, the U.S. has seen no evidence either in the past or "to date."
"I look forward to speaking to the U.K. to make sure that we have a common operating picture," he added, saying that he "just wants to understand what exactly (Shapps') comment was referring to."
Speaking at the London Defense Conference, Shapps said earlier that he was declassifying new intelligence to reveal the "quite significant" development and called on the world to "wake up" to the threat it poses.
Shapps said that U.S. and British defense intelligence now show that "lethal aid is now, or will be, flowing from China to Russia and into Ukraine," Reuters reported.
China officially declares itself a neutral party to Russia's full-scale war in Ukraine and has denied providing lethal aid, but Beijing and Moscow continue to develop closer ties, most recently with Russian President Vladimir Putin visiting his counterpart Xi Jinping last week.
Although Sullivan declined to confirm Shapps' assertion, he did say that China is clearly providing weapons components to Russia, which the U.S. has "taken action to deal with."
Chris York
