Rescuers recover the bodies of passengers murdered by a Russian drone strike on a bus in the Sumy region in northern Ukraine, May 17, 2025

EA-Times Radio VideoCast: Trump — The Snake-Oil Salesman Who Got Played Like A Fiddle

Saturday’s Coverage: “Russia’s Demands Detached From Reality” in Istanbul Talks

Map: Institute for the Study of War

UPDATE 1823 GMT:

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky has spoken with US Vice President J.D. Vance for the first time since Vance’s verbal ambush of Zelensky in the White House on February 28.

The encounter was at the inauguration mass of Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican.

Zelensky posted about the aftermath of Thursday’s direct Ukraine-Russia meeting in Istanbul, Turkey.

I reaffirmed that Ukraine is ready to be engaged in real diplomacy and underscored the importance of a full and unconditional ceasefire as soon as possible.

We have also touched upon the need for sanctions against Russia, bilateral trade, defense cooperation, battlefield situation and upcoming prisoners exchange. Pressure is needed against Russia until they are eager to stop the war. And, of course, we talked about our joint steps to achieve a just and durable peace.

Zelensky also met Pope Leo XIV.

The “Mother of God with Child” icon is painted on a fragment of a box that held heavy artillery. The icon was brought from Izyum in the Kharkiv region, around 50 km (31 miles) from the frontline in northeast Ukraine.

UPDATE 1721 GMT:

Russia has detained an Estonia oil tanker, three days after Moscow violated Estonian airspace when authorities tried to intercept a Russian “shadow fleet” vessel in the Baltic Sea.

The Russians seized the Green Admire, a Greek-owned vessel sailing under a Liberian flag, which had left the Estonian port of Sillamae. The ship was following a route via Russian territorial waters, agreed between Russia, Estonia, and Finland.

Estonia will now redirect traffic to and from the Sillamae port exclusively through its territorial waters.

“Today’s incident shows that Russia continues to behave unpredictably,” Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna said.

On Thursday, the Estonian Navy tried to stop the Jaguar, a tanker of Russia’s “shadow fleet” of tankers which threaten underwater cables and break international sanctions on Moscow’s oil exports.

A Russian military jet entered Estonian airspace for a minute to prevent the interception, and the ship returned to Russia’s waters.

UPDATE 1619 GMT:

After separate conversations with Donald Trump and Ukraine leader Volodymyr Zelensky, Finnish President Alexander Stubb has told a press conference in Estonia, “If you put it together, you could say that Zelensky is patient and President Trump is getting impatient, but in the right direction, which is towards Russia.”

Stubb said progress towards a ceasefire is moving “slowly but surely” in a better direction for Ukraine.

UPDATE 1309 GMT:

Secretary of State Marco Rubio told American outlet CBS News on Sunday morning that the US will advance tougher sanctions against Russia if talks to end Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine do not progress.

Rubio said US patience is not unlimited. If talks remain deadlocked, the Senate will move ahead with a new sanctions bill drafted by Republican Senator Lindsey Graham. He noted that the legislation already has support from more than 80 senators, enough to override a Presidential veto.

“This is a process we don’t control and cannot stop. And we’ve warned the Russians many times — that moment will come,” the Secretary of State said.

UPDATE 1250 GMT:

A “senior Ukrainian official” assesses:

The Russians can’t destroy us and we can’t liberate territory. Without the US it is impossible to change the balance. [Eventually] it will push the balance to Russia. We will still be alive but we will pay a huge price.

The official summarizes that there is no prospect of an agreement to end Russia’s 39-month full-scale invasion.

There are a handful of real issues around independence and sovereignty and economic and security ties with western Europe….

The size of our army will be constrained by economic reasons. Neutrality is a question of framing. But we can’t agree to cancel ties with the West.

Kyiv’s tactic, working with Europe, is to keep a chaotic and unpredictable Trump Administration onside.

“[Zelensky] is in a difficult situation because behind him is a whole nation of people who are suffering,” said Oleksandr Merezhko, a politician in the President’s party. “We are playing [along], we are trying to do everything we can because we don’t want to lose the support of the US. We don’t want to be accused that it was our fault.”

An official found an upside: “It is a huge miracle that we are chatting now after three years and two months of war. In the meantime I believe Russia will help us by doing by something stupid.”

UPDATE 0922 GMT:

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky has posted about the Soviet Union’s mass deportation of Crimean Tatars in 1944.

Estimates of the ethnic cleansing range from almost 200,000 to more than 400,000 deportations and 34,000 to almost 200,000 deaths.

An entire nation was expelled from its native land and forced onto a journey that became a death sentence for thousands upon thousands of people, for countless families. At least one third of the Crimean Tatar people were lost to disease, starvation, exhaustion and abuse.

He concludes, “Crimea, like all of Ukraine, must be free. Empires always fall.”

UPDATE 0852 GMT:

Russia has carried out its largest daily drone attack during its 39-month full-scale invasion, launching 273 UAVs overnight.

Air defenses intercepted 88 drones, and 128 others were lost to electronic counter-measures. Air alerts lasted more than eight hours.

At least two people were slain and 23 injured.

In the Kyiv region, one civilian was killed and three injured, including a 4-year-old child, with other casualties being “clarified”.

The other fatality was in the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine.

Casualties were also reported in the Kherson, Dnipropetrovsk, and Zaporizhzhia regions.

Russia’s previous record of infamy was 267 drones on February 23, just before the three-year anniversary of the invasion.

UPDATE 0647 GMT:

A Ukraine battalion commander has resigned, criticizing Ukraine’s military leadership for senseless orders and unnecessary casualties.

Oleksandr Shyrshyn, of the 47th Separate Mechanized Brigade, posted on Facebook, “I have never received more stupid objectives than in the current direction. Someday I will tell you the details, but the stupid loss of people, trembling in front of a stupid generals, leads to nothing but failures.”

The 47th Brigade was formed in 2022 for Ukraine’s counter-offensive in summer 2023. Tts soldiers were trained in NATO countries and provided new Western equipment.

In 2024, the brigade was part of Ukraine’s incursion into the Kursk region in western Russia.

Shyrshyn on May 16 accused the military command of focusing on punishments rather than results.

All they are capable of is reprimands, investigations, imposition of penalties. Everyone is going to hell.

Political games and assessment of the real state of affairs do not correspond to either reality or possibilities. They played games.

UPDATE 0641 GMT:

Donald Trump says he will speak with Vladimir Putin on Monday.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said preparations are being made for the two men to speak, but did not give a day.

Trump proclaimed that after the call with Putin, he will engage with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky.

ORIGINAL ENTRY: A day after direct talks with Ukraine, Russia murdered nine civilians and wounded seven in the Sumy region in the north of the country.

The vehicle, evacuating people from the area near the Russian border, was struck by a Russian drone close to the city of Bilopillya.

Among the slain were a family of a father, mother, and daughter. Most of the other victims were elderly women.

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky posted:

Pressure must be exerted on Russia to stop the killings. Without tougher sanctions, without stronger pressure, Russia will not seek real diplomacy. Yesterday in Istanbul, everyone saw a weak and unprepared Russian delegation without a meaningful mandate. This must change. Real steps are needed to end the war.

The Germany Foreign Ministry echoed, “Less than 24 hours after the end of the Istanbul talks, Putin is once again making clear that he does not want peace.”

Overnight the Russians killed a 28-year-old woman and injured three people, including a 4-year-old child, in the Kyiv region.

A private home and multi-story residential building were partially damaged.

In the Donetsk region in the east, a 27-year-old woman was slain and eight wounded by drones.

Among the injured were five people, including a juvenile, in a car.