Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he is prepared to meet Vladimir Putin this week, shortly after US President Donald Trump urged him to “immediately” accept the Russian leader's offer to hold peace talks in Turkey. After meeting in Kyiv on Saturday, Ukraine's major European allies gave Russia an ultimatum: agree to an unconditional 30-day ceasefire in Ukraine by Monday or face “massive” new sanctions. Trump supported the initiative, Germany's new chancellor Friedrich Merz said. In a late-night address, Putin did not acknowledge the ultimatum. Ignoring the ceasefire offer, he instead proposed holding “direct talks” with Ukraine in Turkey on Thursday – something not seen since the early weeks of Moscow's full-scale invasion in 2022. Ukraine's allies spent Sunday stressing that there could be no further talks before Putin agrees to an unconditional ceasefire. But Trump undermined the efforts to put pressure on Putin, saying that Ukraine should “immediately” agree to meet with Russian officials on Thursday. Within an hour, Zelensky said he was prepared to meet with Putin this week, in what would be the leaders' first meeting since Russia launched its war. “I will be waiting for Putin in Türkiye on Thursday. I hope that this time the Russians will not look for excuses,” Zelensky said Sunday on X. Although Zelensky said a “full and lasting ceasefire” from Monday would provide “the necessary basis for diplomacy,” he did not specify that this would be a precondition for attending the talks. European leaders have not yet said whether they will press ahead with the threatened additional sanctions on Russia if a ceasefire is not in place by Monday. Ukraine's European allies more forcefully dismissed Putin's offer, saying there could be no new talks before a ceasefire. Merz, Germany's new chancellor, said talks “cannot begin until weapons fall silent.” Poland's Prime Minister Donald Tusk said the world was still waiting on Russia's “univocal decision on an immediate and unconditional ceasefire.” French President Emmanuel Macron said Putin's counter-offer was “not enough.” But Trump abandoned his earlier demand that Russia agree to a 30-day ceasefire, instead calling on Ukraine to attend the peace talks without preconditions. For months, Ukraine and its allies tried to convince the Trump administration that Putin acts in bad faith, and have said Russia's agreeing to a ceasefire could function as a test of whether it is serious about achieving the peace the US president has long demanded. But Putin's offer for direct talks – made in a rare televised address at 1 a.m. local time Sunday – was a gamble to distract from the fact that Russia is likely to snub Monday's ceasefire deadline, analysts said. Putin's offer put Zelensky under “huge pressure” to agree to hold talks in Turkey, Sergey Radchenko, a professor at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, told CNN. Already setting the stage for talks, Putin spoke with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday. The Kremlin said Erdogan “fully supported” Putin's proposal for peace talks and had offered Istanbul as a venue. Although Ankara confirmed Turkey is ready to host the negotiations, a statement from the country's presidency suggested that it agreed with Ukraine's allies that a ceasefire must come before talks. “Noting that a window of opportunity to achieve peace has opened, President Erdoğan said that a comprehensive ceasefire would create the necessary environment for peace talks,” the statement read. Radchenko said that Putin's late-night offer of peace talks was an attempt to shift the pressure on Russia back onto Ukraine. “He knows that Trump wants direct talks,” Radchenko said. In his address, Putin said Russia does not rule out that “during these talks there will be a possibility to arrange some kind of new truce, a new ceasefire,” but stressed that the talks will aim to eliminate the “root causes” of the conflict. Around the same time as Putin's late-night speech, a three-day pause in fighting ordered by Russia's leader came to an end, with Ukraine reporting more than 100 drone attacks overnight. Both sides accused each other of continuing attacks during the truce, ordered by Putin to mark Russia's World War II Victory Day. CNN's Andrew Carey, Nick Paton Walsh, Lucas Lilieholm and Ivana Kottasova contributed to this report.

Donald Trump is reportedly ready to accept a luxury plane described to be a “palace in the sky” being offered to the US president as a gift from Qatar's royal family, almost immediately igniting accusations of bribery and corruption as well as commensurate criticism. On Sunday, citing multiple sources familiar with the matter, ABC reported that the Trump administration was girding itself to accept a luxury Boeing 747-8, a jumbo jet from the Qatari royals that was estimated to be about $400m. Trump would then use the 13-year-old plane as the new Air Force One until shortly before the conclusion of his second Oval Office stint, at which point it would be transferred to his presidential library foundation no later than 1 January 2029. According to ABC's sources, Trump's attorney general Pam Bondi and his top White House lawyer David Warrington have pre-emptively concluded that it is “legally permissible” for Trump to accept the luxury gift and then transfer it over to his presidential library. Both reportedly arrived at that conclusion after lawyers for the White House counsel's office as well as the justice department said the gifted plane was not conditioned on any official act and therefore was not bribery. Those lawyers drafted an analysis for defense secretary Pete Hegseth which reiterated that nothing about the plane violated federal laws prohibiting US government officials accepting gifts from foreign states or their royals. Nevertheless, reports of the highly unusual – if not unprecedented – gift that Trump's subordinates had afforded their blessing for him to receive triggered a wave of criticisms towards the president. On X, Democratic congressman Jamie Raskin of Maryland said: “Trump must seek Congress' consent to take this $300m from Qatar. The Constitution is perfectly clear: no present of any kind whatever' from a foreign state without Congressional permission. Democratic pollster Matt McDermott echoed similar sentiments, saying: “Literally speechless… Meanwhile, Harvard University international security professor Juliette Kayyem said: “The surveillance and security aspects are also as disturbing as the grift.” Similarly, New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman and prolific Trump scoopster wrote that the plane in question was “likely the most expensive gift from a foreign government in US history and will likely raise questions from legal experts”. She added: “If Trump continued using it out of office, it would give him access to a much more modern plane than Trump Force One,” which is a private Boeing 757 built in 1991 that belongs to the organization run by his sons.

After Trump last week said the US will impose more sanctions on Russia if it does not agree to a truce, the leaders of France, Britain, Germany, Poland and Ukraine met in Kyiv on Saturday to send an ultimatum to Putin: agree to an unconditional 30-day ceasefire in Ukraine by Monday or face “massive” new sanctions. But in a late-night address, Putin did not acknowledge the ultimatum. Instead, he proposed holding “direct talks” with Ukraine in Turkey on Thursday – something not seen since the early weeks of Moscow's full-scale invasion in 2022. Although Ukraine and its allies stressed that there could be no further talks before a ceasefire, Trump on Sunday called on Ukraine to take part in the peace talks without a ceasefire. “Ukraine should agree to this, IMMEDIATELY,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. After weeks of what appeared to be thawing relations with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and impatience with Moscow's prevarications on ending the war, Trump's intervention will relieve the pressure on Putin and force Kyiv into an uncomfortable position. Within hours, Ukraine's allies issued much more forceful rebuttals to Putin's offer, saying there can be no new talks before a ceasefire. Friedrich Merz, Germany's new chancellor, said talks “cannot begin until weapons fall silent.” Poland's Prime Minister Donald Tusk said the world is still waiting on Russia's “univocal decision on an immediate and unconditional ceasefire.” French President Emmanuel Macron said Putin's counter-offer is “not enough.” But Trump abandoned his earlier demand that Russia agree to a 30-day ceasefire, instead calling on Ukraine to attend the peace talks without preconditions. “I'm starting to doubt that Ukraine will make a deal with Putin,” Trump said. For months, Ukraine and its allies tried to convince the Trump administration that Putin acts in bad faith, and have said Russia's agreeing to a ceasefire could function as a test of whether it is serious about achieving the peace the US president has long demanded. But Putin's offer for direct talks – made in a rare televised address at 1 a.m. local time Sunday – was a gamble to put the ball back in Ukraine's court and distract from the fact that Russia is likely to snub Monday's ceasefire deadline, analysts said. Zelensky will be under “huge pressure” to agree to hold talks in Turkey, Sergey Radchenko, a professor at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, told CNN. Already setting the stage for talks, Putin spoke with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday. The Kremlin said Erdogan “fully supported” Putin's proposal for peace talks and had offered Istanbul as a venue. Although Ankara confirmed Turkey is ready to host the negotiations, a statement from the country's presidency suggested that it agreed with Ukraine's allies that a ceasefire must come before talks. “Noting that a window of opportunity to achieve peace has opened, President Erdoğan said that a comprehensive ceasefire would create the necessary environment for peace talks,” the statement read. In a little over a day, the unity that was on display between Trump and the five European leaders in Kyiv seems to have dissipated. Merz said the leaders had called Trump, who “supports our initiative.” “Putin is very eager to make sure he retains American goodwill, because there's the parallel process of Russia-American normalization that's going on” alongside efforts to end the war in Ukraine, said Radchenko. In his address, Putin said Russia does not rule out that “during these talks there will be a possibility to arrange some kind of new truce, a new ceasefire,” but stressed that the talks will aim to eliminate the “root causes” of the conflict. Around the same time as Putin's late-night speech, a three-day pause in fighting ordered by Russia's leader came to an end, with Ukraine reporting more than 100 drone attacks overnight. Both sides accused each other of continuing attacks during the truce, ordered by Putin to mark Russia's World War II Victory Day. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told CNN that Russia is “very grateful” for Washington's mediation efforts, but added that “at the same time, it's quite useless to try to press on us.” CNN's Andrew Carey, Nick Paton Walsh, Lucas Lilieholm and Ivana Kottasova contributed to this report.

"There is no point in prolonging the killings. And I will wait for Putin on Thursday in Turkey," President Volodymyr Zelensky 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. It is also revealed this week that U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has fallen out of step with the White House. 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. Western leaders dismissed the Kremlin's proposal for talks in Istanbul on May 15 as insufficient. 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. "An unconditional ceasefire is not preceded by negotiations," French President Emmanuel Macron told reporters on May 11. Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico arrived in Moscow on May 9 to celebrate Victory Day, commemorating the 80th anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II. Slovak and Russian press agencies reported that Fico was accompanied by other politicians from his party, including Erik Kaliniak, Lubos Blaga, Richard Gluck. During his visit, Fico is expected to hold bilateral talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, and a government representative of Vietnam. Fico, who anticipated arriving in Moscow on May 8, was delayed in his arrival, following the Baltic states' decision to bar Slovakia's government plane from flying over their respective country's airspace en route to Moscow. "Estonia informed us a couple of minutes ago that it will not allow us to fly over its territory," Fico wrote on Facebook. The Kremlin uses the annual victory celebrations for propaganda purposes and to showcase its military might, while Russian propaganda leans heavily on the Soviet victory in World War II. Fico is known for inflammatory statements on Ukraine and the war that often echo Moscow's talking points. Fico's planned visit comes as another jab at the Western efforts to internationally isolate Putin over Russia's full-scale war in Ukraine. Slovakia is a member state of both NATO and the EU.

Artist borrows from past masters to create centrepiece of latest show, his first major mural in England There was a time when Nicolas Party would be pursued by police for decorating trains and buildings across Europe with his distinctive street art. Now, grand galleries and museums invite him to unleash his visions on their walls. His latest extraordinary piece, a large mural in soft pastel inspired by the works of a 17th-century Dutch artist and an 18th-century British master has materialised at the Holburne Museum in Bath. “It's great to be in a grand place like this.” For his new piece, his first major mural in an English gallery, Party borrowed from a small oil painting in the Holburne's collection, A Brawl Between Peasants, by Benjamin Gerritsz. Cuyp, a Dutch painter known for his allegorical oil panels and landscapes, influenced by Rembrandt. Over four days he recreated the rather violent image over a whole wall of a gallery, raising an awful lot of pastel dust. Party's mural is called A Brawl Between Peasants, After Benjamin Gerritsz, 2025. The second, smaller piece is Portrait With Two Horses, 2025. Your weekly art world round-up, sketching out all the biggest stories, scandals and exhibitions That's why we have to be enclosed.” He then uses both hands, applying the pastel and rubbing it to create textures and colours. The piece is the showstopper in an exhibition called Nicolas Party: Copper & Dust, which features two rooms of smaller works including striking landscapes, still lifes and portraits, created out of oil on copper.

A Tufts University student from Turkey returned to Boston on Saturday, one day after being released from a Louisiana immigration detention centre where she was held for over six weeks. Upon arrival at Logan Airport, Rumeysa Ozturk told reporters she was excited to get back to her studies during what has been a “very difficult” period. “But I am so grateful for all the support, kindness and care.” A federal judge ordered Ozturk's release Friday pending a final decision on her claim that she was illegally detained following an op-ed she co-wrote last year criticizing her university's response to Israel and the war in Gaza. “Today is a tremendous day as we welcome you back, Rumeysa,” Markey said. U.S. District Judge William Sessions in Vermont ruled that she was to be released on her own recognizance with no travel restrictions. She was not a danger to the community or a flight risk, he said, while noting that he might amend the release order to consider any conditions by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, in consultation with her lawyers. The U.S. Justice Department's Executive Office for Immigration Review did not respond to an e-mail message seeking comment Friday afternoon. It criticized the university's response to student activists demanding that Tufts “acknowledge the Palestinian genocide,” disclose its investments and divest from companies with ties to Israel. On March 25 immigration officials surrounded Ozturk in Massachusetts and took her into custody. Ozturk's lawyers first filed a petition on her behalf in Massachusetts, but they did not know where she was and were unable to speak to her until more than 24 hours after she was detained. A State Department memo said Ozturk's visa was revoked following an assessment that her actions “‘may undermine U.S. foreign policy by creating a hostile environment for Jewish students and indicating support for a designated terrorist organization' including co-authoring an op-ed that found common cause with an organization that was later temporarily banned from campus.” Immigration proceedings for Ozturk, initiated in Louisiana, are being conducted separately in that state and Ozturk can participate remotely, the court said. Authors and topics you follow will be added to your personal news feed in Following.

A federal judge in California temporarily blocked the Department of Government Efficiency's bureaucratic overhaul. A federal judge in California on Friday temporarily blocked what at coalition of labor unions, local governments, and nonprofits argued was “the unconstitutional dismantling of the federal government by the president of the United States on a scale unprecedented in this country's history and in clear excess of his authority.” District Judge Susan Illston agreed with the groups and governments, which include the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), Service Employees International Union (SEIU), Alliance for Retired Americans, Main Street Alliance, Natural Resources Defense Council, the city and county of San Francisco, Chicago, Baltimore, and more. Nothing prevents the president from requesting this cooperation — as he did in his prior term of office.” The court must promptly proceed to consideration of a preliminary injunction.” “We are gratified by the court's decision today to pause these harmful actions while our case proceeds.” Illston's decision came just hours after an emergency hearing, during which coalition attorney Danielle Leonard “said the Trump administration's vision was to fundamentally degrade the services that Congress funds agencies to carry out, raising a profound separation of powers conflict,” according to The New York Times. Ms. Leonard said the Trump administration has never been able to point to any specific authority through which the president could seize that power from Congress. And she said that the government has consistently offered competing and contradictory explanations of why Mr. Trump can authorize the massive restructuring without Congress. “It's an ouroboros: the snake eating its tail,” she said. Signaling a desire to keep moving through the process swiftly, Illston gave the plaintiff coalition until next Wednesday to file a motion for a preliminary injunction, and the federal defendants — Trump along with various federal agencies and their leaders — until the following Monday to respond, with a limit of 25 pages for both. At this moment, we are witnessing a terrifying array of anti-democratic tactics to silence political opposition, increase surveillance and expand authoritarian reach. Truthout is appealing for your support as Trump and his sycophants crack down on political speech. Nonprofits like Truthout could be caught in Trump's crosshairs as he attacks dissenting groups with bad faith lawsuits and targeted harassment of journalists. As well, these attacks come at a time when independent journalism is most needed. The right-wing corporate takeover of media has left reliable outlets few and far between, with even fewer providing their work at no cost to the reader. Get the news you want, delivered to your inbox every day.

A federal judge in California temporarily blocked the Department of Government Efficiency's bureaucratic overhaul. A federal judge in California on Friday temporarily blocked what at coalition of labor unions, local governments, and nonprofits argued was “the unconstitutional dismantling of the federal government by the president of the United States on a scale unprecedented in this country's history and in clear excess of his authority.” District Judge Susan Illston agreed with the groups and governments, which include the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), Service Employees International Union (SEIU), Alliance for Retired Americans, Main Street Alliance, Natural Resources Defense Council, the city and county of San Francisco, Chicago, Baltimore, and more. Nothing prevents the president from requesting this cooperation — as he did in his prior term of office.” The court must promptly proceed to consideration of a preliminary injunction.” “We are gratified by the court's decision today to pause these harmful actions while our case proceeds.” Illston's decision came just hours after an emergency hearing, during which coalition attorney Danielle Leonard “said the Trump administration's vision was to fundamentally degrade the services that Congress funds agencies to carry out, raising a profound separation of powers conflict,” according to The New York Times. Ms. Leonard said the Trump administration has never been able to point to any specific authority through which the president could seize that power from Congress. And she said that the government has consistently offered competing and contradictory explanations of why Mr. Trump can authorize the massive restructuring without Congress. “It's an ouroboros: the snake eating its tail,” she said. Signaling a desire to keep moving through the process swiftly, Illston gave the plaintiff coalition until next Wednesday to file a motion for a preliminary injunction, and the federal defendants — Trump along with various federal agencies and their leaders — until the following Monday to respond, with a limit of 25 pages for both. At this moment, we are witnessing a terrifying array of anti-democratic tactics to silence political opposition, increase surveillance and expand authoritarian reach. Truthout is appealing for your support as Trump and his sycophants crack down on political speech. Nonprofits like Truthout could be caught in Trump's crosshairs as he attacks dissenting groups with bad faith lawsuits and targeted harassment of journalists. As well, these attacks come at a time when independent journalism is most needed. The right-wing corporate takeover of media has left reliable outlets few and far between, with even fewer providing their work at no cost to the reader. Get the news you want, delivered to your inbox every day.

\MOSCOW, May 11. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin has discussed in detail with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan his initiative on the resumption of direct talks between Moscow and Kiev, the Kremlin press service reported after a telephone conversation. "The sides discussed in detail the initiative of the Russian president on the resumption of direct Russian-Ukrainian negotiations, which are proposed to be held in Istanbul from May 15," the statement said. According to the Kremlin, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has fully supported his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin's initiative to resume direct talks between Moscow and Kiev and promised to provide a venue in Istanbul and render all possible assistance. "Recep Tayyip Erdogan fully supported this Russian proposal, emphasizing the readiness to provide a platform in Istanbul. The Turkish side will provide all possible assistance in organizing and holding negotiations aimed at achieving sustainable peace," the statement said. Speaking to reporters in the Kremlin in the early morning hours of May 11, the Russian head of state proposed to the Kiev authorities to resume direct talks without preconditions. It is proposed to start the dialogue on May 15 in Istanbul.

Then, too, he delivered a message of peace. Leo was picking up the papal tradition of offering a Sunday blessing at noon, but with some twists. Traditionalists and conservatives, many of whom felt alienated by Pope Francis' reforms and loose liturgical style, have been looking for gestures and substance from Leo in hopes he will work to heal the divisions that grew in the church. He followed up on Saturday by wearing the brocaded papal stole during a visit to a Marian sanctuary south of Rome. There, he knelt in reverence at the altar and greeted the crowd surrounded by priests in long cassocks usually favoured by conservatives. On Sunday Leo wore the simple white cassock of the papacy and had reverted back to wearing his silver pectoral cross. He had worn a more ornate one that contains the relics of St. Augustine and his mother, St. Monica, on Thursday night that had been given to him by his Augustinian religious order. Leo quoted Pope Francis in denouncing the number of conflicts ravaging the globe today, saying it was a “third world war in pieces.” As a bishop in Chiclayo, Peru, at the start of Russia's 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine, then-Bishop Robert Prevost had not minced words in assigning blame to Moscow. According to a clip of a TV interview on the Peruvian show “Weekly Expression,” circulating in Italian media Sunday, Prevost said it was an “imperialist invasion in which Russia wants to conquer territory for reasons of power given Ukraine's strategic location.” In his remarks Sunday, Leo also called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, and for humanitarian relief to be provided to the “exhausted civilian population and all hostages be freed.” Leo also noted that Sunday was Mother's Day in many countries and wished all mothers, “including those in heaven” a Happy Mother's Day. The crowd, filled with marching bands in town for a special Jubilee weekend, erupted in cheers and music as the bells of St. Peter's Basilica tolled. More than 50 pilgrims from Houston, Texas, were in the square, too, waving three large American flags. They were in Rome on a preplanned Holy Year pilgrimage and said they were proud to be part of this historic occasion. “Words cannot express my admiration and gratitude to God,” said the Rev. Dominic Nguyen, who led the Vietnamese American group. In his homily, he recalled that Sunday was also the day that the Catholic Church celebrates religious vocations, and noted that the issue of declining vocations had been raised by cardinals in their pre-conclave discussions before his election. It is unclear if Leo will move into the apartments or just use them for formal audiences as Francis did. The 69-year-old Chicago-born missionary was elected 267th pope on Thursday. He has a busy week of audiences before his formal installation Mass next Sunday. Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP's collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content. Pope Leo XIV called for a just and lasting peace in Ukraine and an immediate ceasefire in Gaza with the release of hostages and delivery of humanitarian aid in his first Sunday noon blessing as pontiff. Authors and topics you follow will be added to your personal news feed in Following. © Copyright 2025 The Globe and Mail Inc. All rights reserved.

MOSCOW, May 11. Sending a delegation to Istanbul and beginning negotiations is easy to do if Kiev really wants it, Russian Presidential Aide Yury Ushakov told VGTRK journalist Pavel Zarubin in an interview. "A proposal on negotiations without preconditions has been made. They need to come and begin negotiations. This is quite easy if they want it, of course," Ushakov said. In his words, the level of the delegation is yet to be announced. "As you know, we have suggested Thursday, May 15. We are ready to start in the morning. The announcement on who will head the Russian delegation will be made in the coming days," the official said. He added that the Kremlin was waiting for Ukraine's response to the proposal.

The U.S. military service academies will soon have to certify that they make no consideration of race, ethnicity, or sex in their admissions processes and instead decide appointments by merit alone. Advocacy groups like Students for Fair Admissions have continued to raise legal challenges to the continued use of race in service academy admissions. Thus far, these litigants have been unable to force the service academies to discontinue race-based admissions policies through legal action. Last February, the Supreme Court declined an injunction request challenging West Point's continued use of race-based factors in its admissions process. Hegseth's order provides a new way to eliminate affirmative action policies outside of the court system. In his memo, Hegseth wrote that a merit-based admissions process in these military service academies “ensures only the most qualified candidates are admitted, trained, and ultimately commissioned to lead the finest fighting force in history.” “Selecting anyone but the best erodes lethality, our warfighting readiness, and undercuts the culture of excellence in our Armed Forces,” Hegseth added. In March, the Naval Academy announced it would no longer consider race as a factor in its admissions process. The Military Academy and the Air Force Academy followed suit in April, announcing they would also stop considering race as a factor in admissions decisions. All three service academies made these announcements while requesting reprieve from ongoing challenges brought by Students for Fair Admissions.

And I will wait for Putin on Thursday in Turkey," President Volodymyr Zelensky 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. It is also revealed this week that U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has fallen out of step with the White House. 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. Western leaders dismissed the Kremlin's proposal for talks in Istanbul on May 15 as insufficient. 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. "An unconditional ceasefire is not preceded by negotiations," French President Emmanuel Macron told reporters on May 11. U.S. President Donald Trump's Special Envoy for the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, relied on translators from the Kremlin in his meetings with Russian President Vladimir Putin, NBC News reported on May 10, citing a U.S. official and two Western officials with knowledge of the talks. Witkoff, who has emerged as Trump's de facto personal envoy to Russian President Vladimir Putin, has met with the Russian president several times in recent months. His most recent visit took place in Moscow on April 26, the day after a mass missile attack killed 12 people in Kyiv. Witkoff — a real estate tycoon who does not speak Russian — did not employ his own interpreter during these meetings, officials told NBC News. The decision represented a breach of typical protocols and rendered him dependent on Kremlin-provided translators. "If they speak to each other in Russian, he doesn't know what they are saying," one Western official said. Witkoff's conduct in high-profile negotiations has been previously called into question. The New York Post reported on April 30 that his approach caused concern among White House officials, with sources citing his use of Kremlin translators as one problematic choice. In a statement provided to NBC NEws, White House Deputy Press Secretary Anna Kelly said that Witkoff "abides by all security protocols in coordination with the State Department." U.S. President Donald Trump has increasingly expressed frustration with his inability to secure a ceasefire in Russia's war against Ukraine. While his administration has sought warmer ties with Moscow, Trump backed Ukraine and Europe's proposal for a 30-day unconditional ceasefire beginning March 12 and said he would impose tougher sanctions against Russia if Putin refused. Russia has consistently refused to accept an unconditional ceasefire in its full-scale war against Ukraine. Abbey Fenbert is a senior news editor at the Kyiv Independent. She is a freelance writer, editor, and playwright with an MFA from Boston University. Abbey served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Ukraine from 2008-2011.