Zelensky agrees to Putin-proposed meeting in Turkey after Trump demands they negotiate end of war | The Independent |

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Putin's proposal came hours after major European powers demanded on Saturday in Kyiv that Putin agree to an unconditional 30-day ceasefire or face "massive" new sanctions.

The Russian leader dismissed what he said was the attempt by some European powers to lay down "ultimatums."

Time to seek a new post for envoy Keith Kellogg ... the #Mark and #Volodymyr whisperer 😊

Writing on Truth Social, Trump stated Putin does not want to have a ceasefire (and failure like the Minsk agreements) - as pressed through an ultimatum by the Five European leaders meeting in Kyiv - and instead wants to negotiate a possible end to the bloody war.

Russia wants to take away the root causes of this long conflict and not patch up grievances as NATO rebuilds the arms and long range ballistic missiles for a future war. No NATO forces are to be stationed inside Ukraine ... a NO to NATO membership is not a "maybe" but should be definite to secure both the Ukraine and pose no further threat to the existence of the Russian Federation.

Trump said:

"President Putin of Russia doesn't want to have a Cease Fire 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."

Putin yesterday proposed holding direct peace talks with Ukraine after getting an ultimatum to agree to a temporary ceasefire. He proposed to hold direct talks with Ukraine in Turkey on May 15.

The Russian president said: "It was not Russia that broke off negotiations in March/April 2022. It was Kyiv.

"Nevertheless, we are proposing that Kyiv resume direct negotiations without any preconditions.

"Despite everything, we offer the Kyiv authorities to resume negotiations already on Thursday, in Istanbul.

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Putin meets Slovak and Serbian leaders to thank them for defying EU to attend V-Day parade

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MOSCOW: Red Square 80th Anniversary Victory Day, ultimate defeat of Hitler's Nazi Armed Forces with tremendous sacrifice in loss of Soviet citizens' lives, between 27 and 40 million.

Russia flaunted its weapons of war and paraded them in Moscow's Red Square as the nation marked 80 years since Nazi Germany's defeat. Russian armed forces marched together with Chinese and a dozen foreign nations in a Victory Day military parade. This year's Victory Day parade welcomed the highest number of foreign heads since 2015 - at least 27 - including the leaders of Brazil, Slovakia and Serbia. Special guest of honor was President Xi Jinping who spend four days in Moscow.

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Kremlin Tour: Putin and Xi Jinping Chat Over Tea After Walking Historic Halls | APT News |

Operation Barbarossa and the Victory of the Red Army by the long, destructive Siege of Stalingrad

The Fatal Mistakes That Led To The Downfall Of Nazi Germany | War Stories |

General Dwight Eisenhower befriended Soviet general Ivan Konev responsible for the push across the Oder river towards Berlin and the liberation of the Nazi death camp Auschwitz.

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Putin, world leaders emotional during flower-laying ceremony at Eternal Flame for V-Day

[Update-1]

The Russian Embassy In Türkiye

Report by the MFA of Russia «Eighty Years After the Great Victory: Europe has Once Again Fallen in the Shadow of Nazism»

In the memorable May of 1945, amidst the wave of universal jubilation, it seemed that Nazism had been eradicated forever. The world, Europe, and especially the Soviet people paid the highest possible price for the Victory over the "brown plague." However, as life has shown, only the visible part of this sinister iceberg was destroyed in that war. The roots and the breeding ground remained, and today Nazism is once again rearing its head in Europe.

[…]

In Greece, in March 2022, acts of vandalism and desecration of monuments associated with Russia and other countries that were part of the Soviet Union as republics and have not renounced their memorial heritage were recorded.

For the first time in many years, a memorial site related to the anti-fascist struggle was desecrated: on 19 March 2022, unknown individuals spray-painted the name and symbols of the Ukrainian national regiment "Azov" on the Monument to Soviet Soldiers who fell for the freedom and independence of Greece in 1941‑1944, located in Athens.

In Germany, since the end of February 2022, there have been many diverse incidents: the use of physical force, threats, insults, deliberate damage to the property of Russian-speaking citizens, denial of services to them, including medical and banking services, unlawful dismissals from work, coercion into public repentance and condemnation of the actions of the Russian authorities, etc. Cases of attacks on Orthodox churches of the Russian Orthodox Church in Düsseldorf, Essen, Krefeld, and the Russian Orthodox Church outside of Russia in Hanover, Berlin, and Bielefeld, as well as desecrations of churches, have been recorded. An increase in cases of desecration and vandalism at Russian (Soviet) military burial sites and memorials is observed.

In Berlin on 8‑9 May 2024, the use of Russian and Soviet Union flags, the Victory Banner, elements of historical military uniforms, St. George ribbons, orders, and medals was not permitted near Soviet war memorials.

A massive information campaign to demonize Russia has led to the formation of a negative attitude towards Russia in Finland: thanks to such "brainwashing," 94 per cent of Finns view our country in a negative light. Organizations maintaining ties with Russia came under enormous pressure. Since 2022, postal, rail, and air traffic with Russia has been suspended, and strict visa restrictions are in place. In November 2023, the Finnish side closed, temporarily at first and then indefinitely, all operational passenger border crossing points with Russia.

Those who disagree with the authorities' anti-Russian course are subjected to harassment as "enemy collaborators." For example, the Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Foreign Affairs, Kimmo Kiljunen, who allowed himself in November 2024 to call the border closure a "violation of human rights" and the draft law banning real estate acquisition by Russians "racist," faced severe criticism from the press and other politicians. The MP was forced to resign from his post as committee chairman.

Thus, a disturbing picture is emerging today – to suit the political situation, the elites of most European countries are condoning the development of neo-Nazism and hateful sentiments and ideologies. In addition to the groups traditionally hit hardest – migrants, Jews, Roma – Russians and Russian-speaking citizens are now under significant attack.

The protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms, the fight against neo-Nazism – everything that Europe once championed – has today been "sacrificed." The "new normality," the "new ethics" flourishing in the EU, also includes tolerance towards Nazism. It stems from a conscious policy of rewriting history, revising the causes and outcomes of World War II. The principles of the Third Reich have not disappeared from the European space. The formula involving the division of people into "correct" and "incorrect" has been "reprogrammed" according to the ideas of the "beautiful garden" and the "wild jungle," unworthy of the fruits of this very "garden."

The Euro bureaucracy nurtured the Nazi regime in Kiev in order to unite Europe under racist and Nazi banners for a war against Russia. The explicit ignoring of gross human rights violations in Ukraine is evidence of the European Union's indulgence of neo-Nazi ideas.

Meanwhile, international organizations are not responding adequately to this course of events. It is worth considering, before it is too late, what all this could ultimately lead to. The world has already once faced the tragic outcome of the promotion of misanthropic ideas.

Russia, as the country that suffered most from the horrors of World War II and the Great Patriotic War and sustained so many losses for the sake of restoring peace on the continent, will never allow the lessons of the past to be forgotten. Our country, together with its allies and like-minded partners, will continue its focused work to counter any attempts to distort the historical truth and memory of the Great Patriotic War, including the liberation of Eastern and Central European countries from Nazism, which was the result of the joint decisions of the anti-Hitler coalition.

A priority for Russia will remain the perpetuation of the memory of the genocide of the Soviet people during the Great Patriotic War. In 2022‑2025, Russian courts recognized the crimes committed by the Nazis and their collaborators against the peaceful Soviet population and Soviet prisoners of war as genocide in territories currently belonging to 33 subjects of the Russian Federation. 2025 has been declared the Year of Peace and Unity in the Fight Against Nazism in the CIS countries.

For the sake of our common future, everything must be done to prevent the rehabilitation of Nazism and the glorification of Nazi criminals, so that people in European countries do not once again ask themselves: "For whom the bell tolls?", understanding what the answer will be if this mission fails.