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."
General Keith Kellogg, US special envoy for Ukraine, participates in the panel discussion "Peace through Strength - A Plan for Ukraine" at the 61st Munich Security Conference in Munich, Germany on Feb. 15, 2025. (Johannes Simon / Getty Images)
U.S. President Donald Trump's special envoy for Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, told Fox News on April 2 that the United States aims to secure a full ceasefire in the ongoing war.
The countries are already approaching a ceasefire point, according to Kellogg, however, both sides will need to make compromises to reach an agreement.
Kellogg added that "neither side is going to get everything they want." In the meantime, Trump remains in contact with both President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin, and he will be able to broker an agreement between the two countries.
"Trump is frustrated with both Zelensky and Putin as well, but we’re going to get there, and I think what we need to do is stay focused and stay on point (in order) to get where we want to go with ceasefire. Because what we want to have is a comprehensive 30-day ceasefire. Once you get there, it will be very hard to restart the war again," Kellogg said.
The U.S. and Ukraine reached an agreement on a full ceasefire on March 11, but Russia declined, agreeing only to a partial truce that excluded strikes on energy infrastructure and military activity in the Black Sea.
Since then, Kyiv has accused Moscow of breaching the energy-related pause, while the status of the Black Sea ceasefire remains unclear, as Russia continues to tie its extension to the easing of Western sanctions.
Although Trump has often highlighted his rapport with Vladimir Putin, he struck a more critical tone on March 30, accusing Russia of dragging out ceasefire negotiations and focusing excessively on undermining Zelensky.
The U.S. has also expanded its sanctions on Russian companies on April 2 while simultaneously removing restrictions on the wife of Boris Rotenberg, a close associate of Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to the Office of Foreign Assets Control.
Olena Goncharova is the Head of North America desk at The Kyiv Independent, where she has previously worked as a development manager and Canadian correspondent. She first joined the Kyiv Post, Ukraine's oldest English-language newspaper, as a staff writer in January 2012 and became the newspaper’s Canadian correspondent in June 2018. She is based in Edmonton, Alberta. Olena has a master’s degree in publishing and editing from the Institute of Journalism in Taras Shevchenko National University in Kyiv. Olena was a 2016 Alfred Friendly Press Partners fellow who worked for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette for six months. The program is administered by the University of Missouri School of Journalism in Columbia.
Asami Terajima
