The Russian War on Crime: The U.S. Response to Kiev’s 2022 Siege, and the Challenge to the Global Scale

In November, Russia gave the U.S. a brief warning before attacking Ukraine with its hypersonic Oreshnik missile, which Putin claimed could travel at 10 times the speed of sound.

Russian shelling in Ukraine’s northern Sumy region over the past day killed three residents and wounded four more, local officials said. Oleksandr Prokudin said that a civilian was killed by a Russian drone in the southern city of Kherson.

In March, the United States proposed an immediate, limited 30-day truce, which Ukraine accepted, but the Kremlin has held out for terms more to its liking.

It was not known if Zelenskyy was conditioning his arrival in Turkey on the Monday ceasefire holding, and whether or not Putin would go. In 2022, the war’s early months, Zelenskyy repeatedly called for a personal meeting with the Russian president but was rebuffed, and eventually enacted a decree declaring that holding negotiations with Putin had become impossible.

In his video address on Sunday, Zelenskyy said he still hoped that a ceasefire would take hold on Monday, but that he was still waiting for a “clear answer” from Russia.

“An unconditional ceasefire is not preceded by negotiations,” Macron told reporters at the Polish-Ukrainian border, according to French media, adding that Putin is “looking for a way out, but he still wants to buy time.”

French President Emmanuel Macron said that the U.S. would take the lead in monitoring the proposed ceasefire, with support from European countries, and threatened “massive sanctions … prepared and coordinated, between Europeans and Americans,” should Russia violate the truce.

Putin on Saturday held a series of bilateral talks with foreign officials who had attended Moscow’s celebrations marking the defeat of Nazi Germany in an apparent attempt to underscore the western world’s failure to act on the global stage. The general secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam was one of the people Putin brought with him.

Last week, Trump said he doubts Putin wants to end the war in Ukraine, and implied that there will be more sanctions against Russia.

Since the start of U.S.-mediated talks, Russia has kept up attacks along the roughly 1,000-kilometer (600-mile) front line, including deadly strikes on residential areas with no obvious military targets.

Even if the initiative of the weekend fails, most member states of the EuropeanUnion and a large coalition of the willing around the world are determined to enforce the sanctions against Moscow.

It is necessary to provide Ukraine with robust quantities of arms to deter future attacks, and invest in its defense sector, in order to build up Kyiv’s military capabilities. A foreign troops force could be added as a “reassurance” measure.

He said details about potential European deployments to Ukraine were still being fine-tuned. No mention was made of NATO membership, still Kyiv’s top choice for a security guarantee.

Russian Prime Minister Zelenskyy speaks out against a possible end of the 2022 peace talks with Ukraine after the first large-scale invasion

Earlier on Saturday, the European leaders joined a ceremony at Kyiv’s Independence Square marking the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II. They lit candles alongside Zelenskyy at a makeshift flag memorial for fallen Ukrainian soldiers and civilians slain since Russia’s invasion.

There are reports of a flight ban by the Moscow city government over the military training and rocket launch complex. A similar flight ban preceded November’s strike. The Russian officials didn’t comment immediately.

“We are committed to serious negotiations with Ukraine,” Putin said, adding that he doesn’t rule out agreeing to a ceasefire later, in the course of direct talks with Ukraine.

Putin referenced the unsuccessful 2022 peace talks that took place in Istanbul in March, shortly after Moscow’s full-scale invasion, and proposed “restarting” them without preconditions in remarks to reporters in the early hours of Sunday.

Zelenskyy met Putin for the first time in 2019. Zelenskyy issued a decree declaring that negotiations with the Russian leader had become impossible after the Kremlin’s decision to illegally annex four regions of Ukranian.

The “bloodbath” that has been going on may come to an end, Trump wrote. “I will continue to work with both sides to make sure that it happens. The USA wants to focus on rebuilding and trade. A large week upcoming! He mentioned it.

Ukraine’s Violation of the Monday Decree-to-Principle Agreement on the Crimea War in the Middle East

Macron said Sunday that Putin’s offer of direct negotiations with Ukraine is “a first step, but not enough,” signaling continued Western skepticism toward Moscow’s intentions.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, in comments aired by Russian state TV on Sunday, called Putin’s proposal “very serious,” aimed at eliminating “the root causes of the conflict,” and said it “confirms a real intention to find a peaceful solution.”

According to the Kremlin’s readout of the phone call, Erdogan “fully supported the Russian proposal” and was ready to provide a platform for the talks and assistance in organizing them.

The Turkish presidential communications office said in a statement that the Turkish president said in a phone call to the French leader that efforts to end the war had reached a turning point.

Zelenskyy said he was waiting to see the reaction from Western allies who on Saturday promised robust sanctions against Russia if Putin did not abide by the Monday truce.

He told people that he would be in Turkey on Thursday. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov did not immediately respond to a message from The Associated Press asking for a comment.

Russia launched drones from six different directions, the Ukrainian air force said. It said 60 drones were shot down and another 41 simulator drones failed to reach targets due to Ukrainian countermeasures.

The Russian Defense Ministry on Sunday accused Ukraine of “violating” Moscow’s three-day ceasefire more than 14,000 times. Ukraine, which did not agree to the May 8-10 ceasefire, has also accused Russia of violating its own truce, with the Ukrainian foreign minister calling it a farce.

A Russian official said on Sunday night that Ukrainian forces launched missiles at a town in Russia’sKursk region that borders Ukraine. Acting Gov. Alexander Khinshtein said on Telegram that the strike “seriously damaged” a hotel in Rylsk, a town east of the Ukrainian border, and wounded three people.