World
Germany opposes direct talks with Putin due to ‘maximalist demands’
The German government has restated its opposition to reopening diplomatic channels with Russian President Vladimir Putin as part of negotiations to end the war in Ukraine, an idea that has gained traction after being endorsed by the leaders of France and Italy.
“We support direct talks between Russia and Ukraine on the highest level since there can be no just and durable peace without Ukraine’s participation,” a spokesperson for the Federal Foreign Office of Germany told Euronews.
“Unfortunately, we have seen no change in Russia’s position so far: Russia continues to repeat maximalist demands and shows no genuine willingness to negotiate as it continues its brutal attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure and other civilian targets.”
Last week, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said he was “sceptical” about the prospect of re-engagement with the Kremlin, pointing to its continued refusal to establish an unconditional ceasefire in Ukraine, a long-running demand from Europeans.
“We will have to maintain our pressure and sanctions, and intensify them wherever possible,” Merz said, noting that the European Union was already in touch with Kyiv and Washington to convey its unified position.
“Moscow must be willing to end the war. If Moscow isn’t, the price it has to pay for this war, including the economic price, will increase week by week and month by month. That, unfortunately, is the situation we find ourselves in today,” he added.
The comments put Germany, the European Union’s largest member state, directly at odds with France. Last month, after hosting a meeting of the “Coalition of the Willing”, French President Emmanuel Macron said dialogue with Putin, largely interrupted since February 2022, should be launched “as soon as possible”.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni then endorsed Macron’s position.
“I believe the time has come for Europe to also speak with Russia,” Meloni said. “If Europe decides to take part in this phase of negotiations by talking only to one of the two sides, I fear that in the end the positive contribution it can make will be limited.”
The European Commission admitted direct talks might take place “at some point”, but High Representative Kaja Kallas, who is part of the Commission, later voiced opposition, calling on Russia to be “serious” and make concessions as a first step.
“What we are working on is putting more pressure on Russia so that they would go from pretending to negotiate to actually negotiate,” Kallas said.
As peace talks advance and security guarantees are fleshed out, European capitals are taking a critical look at their role in the process, whose outcome, if there ever is one, is poised to redefine the continent’s security architecture for generations to come.
For some, Russia’s relentless bombing campaign, which is plunging Ukraine into blackouts at sub-zero temperatures, is reason enough to keep Putin at arm’s length.
“As long as Russia has not changed its actions and objectives in its aggression against Ukraine, it is not possible to engage in talks with Russia, nor should we offer it a way out of isolation,” the Estonian foreign ministry told Euronews.
“We must not repeat mistakes made time and again by restoring relations when Russia has not changed course.”
For others, though, Europeans need to pick up the phone themselves to avoid depending on the White House, which is today the main intermediary with Moscow.
“The EU should consider appointing a special envoy for future peace talks on Russia’s war in Ukraine,” the Czech Republic’s foreign ministry told Euronews. “While negotiations are currently driven by the US, Russia and Ukraine, it makes sense to think about a European role in the longer term in order to remain a relevant participant.”
As the political debate unfolds, Brussels is preparing a new package of ecosanctions against Russia, which is set to be unveiled in the coming days, so that it can be approved by the time the full-scale invasion reaches its fourth anniversary on 24 February.
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The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it eliminated Hamas Commander Anas Muhammad Ibrahim Hamed, who infiltrated Israel and participated in the Oct. 7 Nova Music Festival Massacre.
Hamed was killed during a targeted Monday strike in Gaza, the IDF announced Tuesday.
“The IDF struck yesterday in the center of the Gaza Strip and eliminated Ans Muhammad Ibrahim Hamed, Nukhba commander in the Hamas terror organization, who raided the territory of the State of Israel and the Nova festival during the murderous massacre on October 7,” the IDF wrote in a Tuesday morning post on X.
The IDF called Hamed an “immediate threat to IDF forces operating in the Gaza Strip,” and said he was “eliminated in a precise airstrike.”
ISRAEL ANNOUNCES IT KILLED ONE OF THE ARCHITECTS OF THE OCT. 7 ATTACKS
A poster of Hamas Nukhba Commander Anas Muhammad Ibrahim Hamed, who the Israel Defense Forces claim to have eliminated, Monday, May 4, 2026. (Israel Defense Forces)
The IDF said it has forces “deployed in the area in accordance with the agreement and will continue to operate to remove any immediate threat.”
Nukhba, which is Arabic for elite, is the special forces for the Al-Qassam Brigades, which is Hamas’ military wing.
Both units were instrumental in the Oct. 7 massacre. The Al-Qassam Brigades planned and executed the attack, according to the IDF and the Counter Extremism Project. Of the 6,000 terrorists who invaded Israel during the attack, more than 3,800 were Nukhba fighters, the IDF stated in an August 2024 assessment.
The Oct. 7 attack resulted in the deaths of more than 1,300 Israelis and prompted a sprawling Israeli military campaign in Gaza. During this campaign, the IDF eliminated two commanders of the al-Qassam Brigades and numerous other members of the group’s military leadership.
ISRAELI MILITARY OPERATION IN GAZA EXPANDING TO SEIZE ‘LARGE AREAS’: ‘EXPANDING TO CRUSH AND CLEAN THE AREA’
Palestinian Hamas fighters of the al-Qassam Brigades participate in a military parade near the border in the central Gaza Strip on July 19, 2023, marking the anniversary of the 2014 war with Israel. (Mahmud Hams/AFP)
A July 2024 targeted strike killed then-al-Qassam Brigades Commander Mohammed Deif. In May 2025, another airstrike killed his replacement, Mohammad Sinwar.
The latest Israeli strike in Gaza comes just under seven months after Israel and Hamas agreed to a ceasefire brokered by President Donald Trump in October. The IDF accused Hamas of violating the ceasefire in February by using ambulances to transport terrorists and weapons around the Gaza Strip.
Hamas has also accused Israel of violating the ceasefire with daily airstrikes.
HAMAS TERRORISTS USE AMBULANCES, SCHOOLS, HOSPITALS IN VIOLATION OF US-BROKERED CEASEFIRE, IDF OFFICIAL SAYS
Fox News’ Trey Yingst asked Secretary of State Marco Rubio last week if Hamas’ refusal to put down its weapons would prompt the Trump administration to support Israel resuming combat operations in Gaza.
War Secretary Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio wait as President Donald Trump prepares to address the Knesset in Jerusalem on Oct. 13, 2025. Trump visited Israel hours after Hamas released some Israeli hostages as part of a U.S.-brokered ceasefire deal in the Gaza conflict. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
“Let’s hope we can avoid that. That’s not the outcome we want,” Rubio told Yingst. “The outcome we want is for Hamas to be demilitarized, and a Palestinian security force backed by an international security force is able to secure Gaza.
Fox News Digital reached out to the IDF and the White House for comment but did not immediately receive a response.
Fox News’ Yonat Friling contributed to this report.
Published on
Ukraine struck a critically important military-industrial complex in Russia on Tuesday, just days before the Kremlin’s Victory Day parade on 9 May.
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy published a video of launches of domestically-made Flamingo cruise missiles, which he said covered a distance of more than 1,500km to strike a facility in Cheboksary in the Russian Federation’s Chuvash Republic.
The facility in question is a Russian state institute that produces components for high-precision weapons used by Moscow to attack Ukraine.
“The struck military production facility manufactured relay protection systems, automation equipment, and low-voltage apparatus,” Zelenskyy wrote.
“Russia must end its war and move to real diplomacy. We have made our proposal.”
Zelenskyy announced on Monday that Ukraine is declaring a ceasefire beginning at midnight on Wednesday. The proposal came in response to Russia’s unilateral declaration of a ceasefire for its Victory Day parade.
“We believe that human life is far more valuable than any anniversary ‘celebration’,” Zelenskyy said, referring to Russia’s upcoming 9 May commemorations.
He warned that the timeframe of the proposed truce at midnight on the night of 5–6 May would be enough to test whether a genuine pause in fighting could be respected.
“We will act reciprocally starting from that moment,” Zelenskyy said.
“It is time for Russian leaders to take real steps to end their war, especially since Russia’s defence ministry believes it cannot hold a parade in Moscow without Ukraine’s goodwill.”
Victory Day blackout
Russia has reportedly started cutting off mobile internet services to many users starting from Tuesday.
Russian banks, including the country’s largest, Sberbank, also cautioned that there could be issues with mobile internet and cash withdrawals.
This year the parade in Moscow will also be significantly scaled back, according to the Kremlin.
It would not feature military vehicles or cadets due to what the Kremlin described as “current operational situation”.
“All measures are being taken to minimise the danger,” Putin’s spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said earlier as he referred to what Moscow called a “terrorist threat” from Ukraine.
The fact that the parade is scaled down is seen as an important indicator of the situation in Russia’s military and of personnel and equipment shortages.
The US-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW) think tank assessed that in April, Russian forces lost territory they occupied in Ukraine for the first time in over a year and a half.
The ISW said it has evidence that Moscow lost control of 116 square kilometres over the course of last month.
The think tank explained that the Russian rate of advance across the battlefield has been steadily declining since November 2025,” as continued Ukrainian ground counterattacks and mid-range strikes, the February block on Russia’s use of Starlink terminals in Ukraine, and the Kremlin’s throttling of Telegram have exacerbated existing problems within the Russian military.
A drone slammed into a high-rise apartment building a few miles from the Kremlin on Monday, a rare attack on Moscow that came as Ukraine has expanded its long-range strikes inside Russia.
The breach of air defenses in the Russian capital occurred five days before the annual Victory Day parade, a major event on Red Square marking the Soviet contribution to the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II. Last week, Russia said that the parade would be significantly downsized, in an acknowledgment of the growing threat from Ukrainian drones.
In an effort to damage Russia’s oil-dependent economy, Ukraine has conducted several strikes in recent weeks on facilities deep inside Russian territory. Russia said on Sunday that Ukraine had attacked an important oil-exporting station on the Black Sea, and Ukraine said its forces had struck two ships in the Russian “shadow fleet” — vessels that surreptitiously transport oil in violation of sanctions — in another Black Sea port.
The drone strike on the Moscow apartment building took place in the early hours of Monday, the city’s mayor, Sergei S. Sobyanin, said in a statement. There were no casualties, he added. The Russian authorities did not directly attribute the attack to Ukraine, and Ukrainian officials did not immediately comment on the attack.
It was not clear whether the upscale apartment building, which soars 54 stories in a leafy, quiet neighborhood of low-rise buildings, was the intended target. The tower, the tallest in Moscow’s southwest, is about four miles from the city center, in an area named after Mosfilm, the Moscow film studio.
Videos and photos from the scene showed part of one floor in the tower gutted by the drone hit. The drone’s evasion of air defenses was an embarrassment for the Kremlin. In recent days, city officials had reported several interceptions of Ukrainian drones in the Moscow suburbs.
Last week, President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia called for a cease-fire on May 9, the day of the Victory Day parade. President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine rejected the offer, saying his country would welcome a lasting cease-fire, not a day off for Russia to celebrate itself.
On Monday, Russia’s Ministry of Defense said in a statement that Mr. Putin had declared a cease-fire for May 8 and 9, and that it hoped Ukraine would follow suit. Mr. Zelensky followed up hours later by announcing a cease-fire of his own — for May 6.
“We believe that human life is far more valuable than any anniversary ‘celebration,’” he said, adding that “it is time for Russian leaders to take real steps to end their war, especially since Russia’s Defense Ministry believes it cannot hold a parade in Moscow without Ukraine’s goodwill.”
Because of the threat of Ukrainian drones, Russia will hold the parade without heavy military equipment for the first time in nearly two decades. The Kremlin also canceled the participation of students from military secondary schools.
The Russian Defense Ministry statement said that if Ukraine attacked Moscow during the parade on Saturday, it would retaliate with a “massive” missile strike on the center of Kyiv.
Mr. Putin has portrayed Russia’s war in Ukraine as an extension of the Soviet Union’s struggle in World War II, falsely asserting that the government in Kyiv has been taken over by Nazis.
In the past, the Victory Day parade has been an important foreign policy event for Russia, attracting heads of state including President George W. Bush and Xi Jinping, the Chinese leader. This year, Robert Fico, the Russia-friendly prime minister of Slovakia, is expected to be the main foreign dignitary.
Mr. Zelensky made a vague reference to the drone attack during a speech in Yerevan, the Armenian capital, on Monday. He said that Russia’s decision to scale back the May 9 parade showed its weakness.
“They cannot afford military equipment,” Mr. Zelensky said, “and they fear drones may buzz over Red Square.”
Mr. Zelensky was in Armenia, a traditional ally of Russia, as it hosted a summit of leaders from a grouping known as the European Political Community. While Armenia is the site of a Russian military base, the country has been moving away from Moscow after the Kremlin did not come to its aid in a 2023 conflict with Azerbaijan.
Pro-war commentators in Russia have been seething over Armenia’s decision to welcome Mr. Zelensky and European leaders. Oleg Tsaryov, a former member of the Ukrainian Parliament who is now a pro-Kremlin blogger, asked in a post on the message service Telegram on Sunday what was stopping the 5,000 Russian troops in Armenia from arresting Mr. Zelensky on arrival.
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