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Here’s where things stand on Friday, May 30:
Fighting
- The Russian army said on Thursday that it had captured three villages in Ukraine’s Donetsk and Kharkiv regions in its latest advance.
- Authorities in Ukraine said Russia had fired 90 drones overnight and at least seven people were killed in drone, missile and artillery strikes across five front-line Ukrainian regions.
- Russia said it had repelled 48 Ukrainian drones overnight, including three near Moscow.
- Drones made a night-time attack on Russia’s western Kursk region, damaging a hospital and apartment buildings, and injuring at least one person, the regional Governor Alexander Khinshtein said.
- Ukraine’s military said its forces remained active in small areas of Kursk, though Russia’s military said last week it had completed the ejection of Ukrainian forces from the Russian region.
- Across the border in Ukraine’s neighbouring Sumy region, the regional governor reported new fighting in villages near the border where Russia has been seizing territory. He said various areas in his region were constantly changing hands as both sides continued to battle for control.
- “Active battles continue in certain border areas, notably around the settlements of Khotyn and Yunakivka,” Sumy Governor Oleh Hryhorov wrote on Facebook. “The situation on the line of contact is constantly changing. In some places, we hold the initiative, in others, the enemy is proving to be active.”
- Russia’s Defence Ministry said its forces had captured three more villages as it slowly advances through parts of eastern Ukraine. These were Stroivka in the northeastern Kharkiv region, and Shevchenko Pershe and Hnativka near the town of Pokrovsk, the focal point of Russia’s westward drive for months.
- Ukrainian military reports made no mention of any of the three villages coming under Russian control. Russian forces had launched 53 attacks over 24 hours near Pokrovsk, the military said.
Ceasefire
- The Kremlin said on Thursday that it was waiting for Kyiv’s response to its proposal for new talks in Istanbul next Monday.
- Ukraine said it was ready to hold more talks with Russia in Istanbul but demanded that Moscow supply a document setting out its conditions for peace in the war, adding that Kyiv had already submitted its vision of a peace settlement.
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Russia was engaging in “yet another deception” by failing to hand over its peace settlement proposal in advance of the next potential meeting. “Even the so-called ‘memorandum’ they promised and seemingly prepared for more than a week has still not been seen by anyone,” Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address.
- Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Kyiv’s demand on the “memorandum” was “non-constructive”.
- Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Heorhii Tykhyi, said Moscow’s refusal to send the document “suggests that it is likely filled with unrealistic ultimatums”.
- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who will host the new talks, called on Russia and Ukraine not to “shut the door” on dialogue.
- The Russian delegation to the second round of talks in Istanbul will be the same as for the first round, the Russian TASS news agency cited Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova as saying.
- United Nations Undersecretary-General for Political Affairs Rosemary DiCarlo told the Security Council that the “cautious hope” she expressed a month ago for a ceasefire in Ukraine has diminished in the face of the “brutal surge in large-scale Russian attacks” against Ukraine.
- Ukrainian Deputy Ambassador to the UN Khrystyna Hayovyshyn told the council that “Russia is not signalling any genuine intention to stop its war”, and said that increased political, economic and military pressure on Moscow was required.
- Russian Ambassador to the UN Vassily Nebenzia rejected the accusations, instead accusing Kyiv of “attempting to prolong the war” and warning that Ukraine’s defeat was inevitable. “No new anti-Russian sanctions, nor deliveries of weapons to Ukraine or any other hostile steps vis-a-vis Russia will be able to prevent the inevitable military defeat of the Zelenskyy regime,” Nebenzia said.
- John Kelley, the United States’s alternate representative at the UN meeting, said that if Russia “makes the wrong decision to continue this catastrophic war”, Washington will consider “stepping back from our negotiation efforts to end this conflict”, adding that additional sanctions against Moscow were “still on the table”.
Military aid
- Zelenskyy said he discussed the possible delivery of German Taurus cruise missiles to Ukraine with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz during his visit to Berlin. “The Taurus issue was discussed in a one-to-one meeting between the chancellor and me,” the Ukrainian president told the German broadcaster RTL.
- Russia accused Serbia of exporting arms to Ukraine, saying it was a stab in the back by its longtime Slavic Balkan ally.
- “Serbian defense enterprises, contrary to the ‘neutrality’ declared by official Belgrade, continue to supply ammunition to Kyiv,” Russia’s foreign intelligence service said in a statement.
- The statement alleged that exports of Serbian arms to Ukraine are going through NATO intermediaries, “primarily the Czech Republic, Poland and Bulgaria”. It added: “Recently, exotic options involving African states have also been used for this purpose.”
Regional security
- A Belarusian radio station has been flouting European Union sanctions to spread “disinformation” and back a pro-Russian candidate on social media in advance of Poland’s presidential election, according to reports.
- A Polish-language radio station, set up by Belarus, has been posting pro-Russian narratives on social media for almost two years “despite EU sanctions”, experts said in a report published by three think tanks. Poland votes on Sunday in a hotly contested presidential run-off between pro-EU and nationalist candidates, which is being closely watched in Europe.
Economy
- The International Monetary Fund announced it had reached an agreement with Ukraine on a loan programme review to unlock about $500m dollars of funds to support macroeconomic stability.
Ukraine yet to commit to new round of Russia talks in Istanbul
Ukraine says it wants to see a document detailing Russia’s proposed terms for a ceasefire before sending a delegation to Istanbul for bilateral talks next week, while the Kremlin said it expected the two sides to discuss truce conditions at the planned meeting.
Speaking at a news conference in Kyiv on Friday, Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha did not confirm that Ukraine would take part in the talks that Russia has proposed take place on June 2, saying his side needed assurances the Kremlin was genuine about wanting to end the war.
“In order for the next planned meeting to be substantive and meaningful, it is important to receive a document in advance so that the delegation that will attend has the authority to discuss the relevant positions,” he said.
He said Ukraine had not received any such document outlining Russia’s proposals so far.
The two sides previously met in Istanbul on May 16 for their first direct talks in more than three years. The talks ended in less than two hours, failing to yield a breakthrough on a ceasefire. The warring sides did agree on a prisoner exchange, which later took place, and agreed to swap documents outlining possible roadmaps to peace.
Ukraine expressed disappointment after the talks, with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy saying it was a “sign of disrespect” that Russia had sent a junior delegation that was not authorised to sign a ceasefire.
Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Heorhii Tykhyi said on X on Thursday that Russia’s delay in sharing its ceasefire proposal suggested that it was “likely filled with unrealistic ultimatums”.
Speaking at Friday’s news conference alongside visiting Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, Sybiha said Kyiv wanted to end the war.
“We want to end this war this year, and we are interested in establishing a truce, whether it is for 30 days, or for 50 days, or for 100 days,” he said.
“Ukraine is open to discussing this directly with Russia. We confirmed this during the last meeting of our delegations with the Russian side.”
Turkiye proposes leaders’ summit
Fidan suggested that a meeting between Zelenskyy, Russian President Vladimir Putin and United States President Donald Trump, under the direction of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, could follow next week’s talks, if they went ahead.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said any such meeting could only take place if results were achieved in the bilateral negotiations.
He said both sides’ proposals for an agreement would be discussed in Istanbul, and the details would not be made public.
Peskov added that Russia was pleased that Putin’s position on Ukraine joining NATO was being understood by the US, in response to a comment by Trump’s envoy Keith Kellogg that Moscow’s concerns about Kyiv joining the alliance were fair.
Kellogg told US network ABC that he was expecting the bilateral talks in Istanbul to go ahead.
Serbia probes arms to Ukraine after Russia alleges ‘stab in the back’
Serbia and Russia have agreed to jointly investigate allegations that Serbian-made arms were delivered to Ukraine after Moscow accused Belgrade of betrayal over reports Serbian-made ammunition reached Kyiv.
Russian foreign intelligence agency SVR branded the alleged transfers a “stab in the back”, accusing Serbia’s defence industry of funnelling weapons to Ukraine through NATO-linked countries, including the Czech Republic, Poland and Bulgaria, as well as unnamed African states.
“They have one clear purpose – to kill and maim Russian military personnel and the civilian population,” SVR said in a statement on Thursday.
“It seems that the desire of Serbian defence industry workers and their patrons to profit from the blood of fraternal Slavic peoples has made them completely forget who their real friends are and who their enemies are,” the Russian statement said.
Joint investigation
Serbia’s President Aleksandar Vucic confirmed that a working group had been formed with Russian officials to verify the claims, but rejected some of the accusations.
“Some of the things that have been said are not true,” Vucic told state broadcaster RTS, adding that he discussed the issue with Russian President Vladimir Putin during a Moscow visit earlier this month.
Belgrade continues to walk a tightrope between its traditional alliance with Russia and its ambition to join the European Union. While Serbia has condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine at the United Nations, it has resisted pressure to join Western sanctions.
A leaked Pentagon document from 2023 suggested Serbia had agreed to supply arms to Ukraine, despite officially declaring military neutrality.
In 2024, The Financial Times reported that Serbia exported at least $908m worth of ammunition to Ukraine via third countries since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in 2022.
Serbia’s weapons industry, heavily based on Soviet-era designs, produces arms compatible with those used by both Russian and Ukrainian forces.
Although Moscow remains Serbia’s main gas supplier and controls its only oil refinery, Vucic has also met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy several times and expressed support for Ukraine’s territorial integrity.
Russia says no Ukraine response on proposal for more Istanbul talks
Russia says it has yet to receive a response from Ukraine over its proposal to hold another round of ceasefire talks in Istanbul next week, as Turkiye’s president urged the warring sides not to “close the door” to dialogue.
Moscow said earlier this week it wanted to hold new talks with Ukraine in the Turkish city on June 2 to present a memorandum that would outline what it referred to as the key elements for “overcoming the root causes” of the war.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday that so far Moscow has not received a reply from Kyiv.
When asked to comment on Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha’s suggestion that Russia should immediately hand over the memorandum, Peskov dismissed the idea as “non-constructive”.
“Here, you have to either confirm your readiness to continue negotiations or do the opposite,” Peskov said.
Ukrainian Defence Minister Rustem Umerov said on Wednesday that Kyiv had already submitted its memorandum on a potential settlement and called on Russia to produce its version immediately, rather than waiting until next week, saying that the meeting would not yield results without it.
Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry spokesman, Heorhii Tykhyi, said on X on Thursday that Russia’s hesitancy to share its plan suggests that it was “likely filled with unrealistic ultimatums”.
“They are afraid of revealing that they are stalling the peace process,” Tykhyi said.
Officials from both sides met in Istanbul on May 16, their first direct talks in more than three years, but the encounter failed to yield a breakthrough, though the exchange of 1,000 prisoners of war was agreed and then completed in recent days.
The Russian delegation to the second round of talks with Ukraine in Istanbul will be the same as for the first round, the TASS news cited Russia’s foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova as saying on Thursday.
The Russian delegation for the first round of direct talks included President Vladimir Putin’s aide Vladimir Medinsky, ambassador-at-large Rodion Miroshnik and senior military and intelligence officials.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had slammed the composition of Moscow’s team in the first round, saying it was a “sign of disrespect” as it was a junior delegation that was not empowered to sign a ceasefire.
“Russia once again demonstrated that it does not intend to end the war,” Zelenskyy said on X. “We expect a clear and strong response from partners.”
But Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said the recent momentum for talks was an opportunity to reach lasting peace.
“The road to a resolution goes through more dialogue, more diplomacy. We are using all our diplomatic power and potential for peace,” he told reporters on Thursday, according to his office.
“During the course of each of our meetings, we have reminded our interlocutors that they should not pass up this opportunity,” Erdogan said, adding that “extinguishing this huge fire in our region … is a humanitarian duty.”
In Ukraine, local authorities said at least five people were killed across the country after Russia fired 90 drones overnight.
Russia’s air defences intercepts 48 Ukrainian drones overnight
Russia’s Ministry of Defence said its air defences had intercepted 48 Ukrainian drones overnight, including 30 over the Belgorod region.
The ministry added in separate comments that its army had captured the village of Stroivka in Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv region as well as Gnativka and Shevchenko Pershe in the Donetsk region.