France has pledged to broaden its defense commitment to Ukraine by offering specialized technical and operational cooperation to counter Russia’s intensifying use of ballistic weaponry.
The announcement followed a high-level telephone consultation between President Volodymyr Zelensky and French President Emmanuel Macron on Saturday, May 16.
Writing on his official Facebook page, President Zelensky explicitly framed the development as a major milestone for Ukraine’s heavily strained air defense architecture.
“I thanked Emmanuel for his principled condemnation of Russian strikes on our cities and communities. These attacks make very clear what Russia is and why we all need to strengthen our collective defense against all threats. France is ready to work on anti-ballistic capabilities. This is a strong decision and an important step. We also discussed boosting our ability to repel Russian attacks right now,” Zelensky noted.
International Glance
Maldivian authorities on Saturday suspended the search for the bodies of four Italian divers believed to be deep inside an underwater cave, after a military diver died during a perilous mission to try to reach them.
Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on a two-day trip to Beijing next week, the Kremlin said Saturday.
Cisco Systems is one of the most consequential—yet least visible—corporations in Silicon Valley. The San Jose-based networking giant, with a market capitalization in excess of $270 billion and annual revenue of $56.7 billion in 2025, manufactures the routers, switches, firewalls, and communications platforms that run the internet’s infrastructure, as well as many of its worldwide corporate, government, and military networks.
Emirati scholar Abdulkhaleq Abdulla has called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a "war criminal" who is wholly unwelcome in the United Arab Emirates, after the country's foreign ministry issued a statement denying that Netanyahu ever came to visit UAE ruler Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan.
Chinese President Xi Jinping is using the issue of Taiwan to exert power over President Trump as the two leaders seek to tackle a number of hot button issues during this week’s high stakes summit in Beijing.
Yuri Ushakov, an aide to Vladimir Putin, asserted on May 10 that any settlement regarding the war in Ukraine will “stand still” unless Kyiv withdraws its military from the Donbas. Despite this rigid ultimatum, Ushakov expressed confidence that the US has not abandoned the diplomatic track, predicting that Donald Trump’s envoys, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, will soon return to Moscow for further talks.





























