The Council of Europe supported the creation of a Special Tribunal for crimes of the Russian Federation.
The Russian Foreign Ministry did not recognize the decision of the Council of the International Civil Aviation Organization on Russia’s involvement in the crash of the Boeing 777-200 of Malaysia Airlines in 2014. Moscow’s principled position was emphasized: Russia was not involved in the downing.
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte believes that the next 14 days will open a window of opportunity to resolve the conflict in Ukraine. In the meantime, the green light for the 17th package of sanctions against Russia. The Financial Times had mentioned the same date the day before. The newspaper wrote that the measures would affect 149 oil tankers that, according to the EU, are linked to the Russian shadow fleet. The restrictions will also apply to companies from third countries, including the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Serbia, Vietnam and Uzbekistan, suspected of helping Russia evade sanctions. The EU could impose sanctions on individual banks and limit uranium supplies from Russia, Bild writes. Hungarian and Slovak ambassadors support 17th package of sanctions against Russia due to its “relative weakness” – Euractiv
French President Emmanuel Macron has not ruled out that the EU, together with the United States, could introduce new sanctions against Russia in the coming days, which could target financial services and hydrocarbons. “Our security is at stake in Ukraine. We want a ceasefire on land, sea and air for 30 days,” Macron said. “The Ukrainians are very clear that they cannot give back the lost territories,” Macron said. He added that the fighting must stop and that Kiev must be “in the best position to resume negotiations” that “will allow territorial issues to be resolved.”
Russian assets frozen in Europe after the conflict in Ukraine cannot be confiscated due to the lack of a legal framework, but it is important to prevent Russia from returning them in the event of the collapse of the general sanctions regime in the West, French President Emmanuel Macron said on the TF1 TV channel. Slovakia and Hungary have agreed to approve the next package of sanctions against Russia, as it is “relatively weak”, Euractiv writes.
Keith Kellog: “The new US sanctions against Russia could be the toughest ever if no progress is made on the deal.” Donald Trump said he expected “quite good” results from possible talks between Russian and Ukrainian officials in Istanbul.
France cannot increase supplies to Ukraine because it has already given Kiev “everything it can,” Macron said. He also noted that France is ready to discuss the deployment of nuclear-armed aircraft in other European countries.
Germany announced the arrest of three Ukrainian citizens on charges of acting as foreign agents of Russia and planning arson, sabotage and the delivery of packages filled with explosives. The EU is preparing a new package of sanctions against Russia, a decision on it should be made by the end of June, German Chancellor Merz said. He also said that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky acted wrongly by agreeing to talks in Istanbul. German Chancellor Merz: “There can be no peaceful solution in Ukraine ‘dictated by Moscow’”. The Guardian
Poland denies Kellogg’s words about sending troops to Ukraine Polish soldiers will not end up on Ukrainian territory and there is a consensus on this issue in Polish society, stressed the Minister of National Defense Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz.
The war in Ukraine will not last another 10 years. Ukraine will not survive, says Zelensky: “If Putin does not show up for the meeting in Turkey, it will be like a total defeat for him. At the moment it is impossible to reach an agreement on everything, but the parties must find a solution to end the war in Ukraine. In the event of a meeting with Putin, it would be possible to agree on a ceasefire or an “all for all” exchange.
The specific format of the Istanbul negotiations has not yet been determined; delegations are being formed. The warring parties in Ukraine are now trying to agree on positions, trying not to give in, but there is an intention to negotiate, says Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan. Turkey does not expect Trump’s visit on Thursday, but does not rule it out in the coming days, especially if Putin arrives, Bloomberg reports.
Brazilian President said he would try to persuade Putin to meet Zelensky in Istanbul on Thursday, AFP news agency reported. “I will try to talk to Putin. It costs me nothing to say: ‘Hey, comrade Putin, go to Istanbul and negotiate, damn it,'” Lula said at a press conference in Beijing before his departure.
“The Russian delegation will be in Istanbul on May 15 and will wait for the Ukrainian side there,” Kremlin spokesman Dimty Peskov said. The Kremlin has not yet announced the composition of the Russian delegation to the Istanbul talks, Peskov said. “Everything that Putin said on the night of May 10-11 remains current,” Peskov said. The Russian delegation to the Istanbul talks intends to discuss both political and technical issues: its composition will be determined based on that, Yuri Ushakov told Rossiya 1 journalist Pavel Zarubin. Ushakov did not comment on the statements about the possibility of Trump and Zelensky appearing in Istanbul on May 15, did not specify whether he would be part of the Russian delegation to the Istanbul negotiations.
And now a look at the front line updated at 15:30 on May 14. Missile strikes were carried out on Kharkiv and Odessa. The Ukrainians reported 50 Geranium-type drones that carried out night attacks on facilities in the Ukrainian rear. Monitoring channels wrote about explosions in the regions of Kropyvnytskyi, Dnipropetrovsk, Pavlohrad and Starokostjantyniv, Ternopil, Rivne, Zhytomyr, Zaporizhia, Sumy, Poltava.
Fighting continued in the direction of Tetkino, Kursk region. Yesterday, Ukrainian infantry groups, armored fighting vehicles and motorized infantry on quads were hit while trying to break through the border. In the Pavlivka – Novyi Put’ direction, groups of Ukrainian sappers and sappers were hit.
In the Sumy direction, Russian forces are constantly carrying out drone strikes against equipment and personnel in Myropillya. In the Loknya area, Russian forces are expanding the control zone and are breaking through the settlement of Bilovody in the village of Vodolahy.
Near the Belgorod border section, opposite the settlement of Popovka and Demidovka, Russian troops remain active on Ukrainian territory. The Russian region is the victim of Ukrainian attacks: six on May 13, resulting in at least 10 people being injured.
In the direction of Kostyantynivka, there are reports of fighting in the vicinity of Romanivka: the Russian army is creating conditions to close the “pocket” southwest of Toretsk.
East of Pokrovs’k the Russian Group of Forces “Center” has taken the settlement Myrolyubivka in the DPR, Russian flags are also shown from the village of Malynivka in the DPR. South-west of Pokrovs’k, there are reports of assault actions by units of the Russian Armed Forces in the village of Novoserhiivka, located a couple of kilometers from the border with the Dnipropetrovsk region.
In the direction of South Donetsk, the advance of Russian troops is developing in the village of Bahatyr, the preparation for the assault of which took a long time on the Russian side. The defensive pocket of the Ukrainian Armed Forces near the settlement is closing between Bahatyr-Oleksivka. At the end of the collection, we learn from social media that Russian forces have captured the village of Oleksandropil, in the direction of Kostyantynivka, Donetsk Oblast.
Russian forces have broken through to the center of Chasiv Yar. Most of the Ukrainian positions have fallen, however, Ukrainian soldiers are still fortified in about 9 buildings, three of which are 4-story high. The administrative building is located in the gray zone. The remaining Ukrainian positions are expected to fall in the next 12-24 hours.
In the Orichiv direction of the Zaporizhia Front, positional battles are taking place in the area of Novoserhiivka, Malaya Tokmachka, Shcherbaky, Stepove and Kam’yans’ke. Ukrainian troops struck the city market of Tokmok at night.
Graziella Giangiulio
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