Ukraine Breaking News Today Live on 05-18-2025

Zelensky said the authority and voice of the Holy See would play an important role in ending this war.

Following the inauguration Mass, Pope Leo XIV held an audience with President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy and First Lady Olena Zelenska – the first audience with heads of state.

The President congratulated Pope Leo XIV on the beginning of his pontificate, noting that he represents hope for millions of people who long for peace.

These elections are significant for Poles, the millions of Ukrainians in Poland, and the broader European and global political landscape.

On May 18, the Polish electorate voted in the first round of the presidential elections.

Final results released on Monday show 31.36% for center-right Civic Platform Rafał Trzaskowski and 29.54% for Karol Nawrocki, an independent candidate and historian supported by the nationalist-conservative Law & Order Party (PiS), according to the national election commission.

The Sunday meeting in Rome came as Russia launched its largest drone barrage against Ukraine in years after rare direct talks between Moscow and Kyiv failed to yield a ceasefire.

US Vice President JD Vance on Sunday hosted President Volodymyr Zelensky for a meeting at the US ambassador’s residence in Rome, Kyiv Post’s correspondent who is currently traveling with Secretary of State Marco Rubio reports.

The leaders were joined by Rubio and Ukraine’s Presidential aide Andriy Yermak.

Dan won more than 54 percent of the vote, while Simion stood at just over 45 percent, according to the surveys released shortly after polling stations closed.

Two exit polls put pro-EU centrist Nicusor Dan, the mayor of Bucharest, ahead of nationalist George Simion in Romania’s presidential election on Sunday.

The election was seen as crucial for the direction of the EU and NATO member bordering war-torn Ukraine.

Recent turmoil across the world does not bode well for liberal ideals. We appear to be on the cusp of a new world order that looks more like chaos than the old one.

A poem bequeathed to us by the epically gloomy Canadian seer-singer Leonard Cohen ends with the words: “Oh, and one more thing / you aren’t going to like / what comes after America.”

As we pass the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War in Europe, every day brings further evidence that a remarkably long-lived US-led international order is over. Everyone is now scrambling to work out what might succeed it. A new multi-polar order? Spheres of influence? A worldwide version of the 19th-century Concert of Europe? By far the most plausible answer, however, is a prolonged and dangerous period of global disorder.

Without a dusty fedora and bullwhip, Max Levada is still an archaeologist on a mission, not to find the holy grail, but to save Ukraine’s national antiquities and artifacts from black market plunder.

Max Levada is an archaeologist on a mission, not to find the holy grail nor keep neo-Nazis from marching across Europe with the Ark of the Covenant leading their way to victory , but to save Ukraine’s national antiquities, looted artifacts and collectible treasues from black market would-be plunderers.

Working from Kyiv, without a dusty fedora and bullwhip, archaeologist Max Levada leads Ukraine’s only permanent taskforce tracking antiquities traffickers. His three-person team monitors online auctions around the clock, helping prosecutors seize hoards ranging from Roman fibulae to Cossack sabres.

New Pope reaches out to Zelensky and Ukraine.

Pope Leo XIV will hold his first private audience Sunday with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky after the US pontiff’s inauguration mass, the Vatican said.

“The martyred Ukraine is waiting for negotiations for a just and lasting peace to finally happen,” the pontiff said ahead of the meeting.

Putin “Peace Talk” leader Medinsky directly threatened Ukrainian diplomats: “Maybe some of those sitting here at this table will lose more of their loved ones. Russia is prepared to fight forever.”

Ukraine’s First Deputy Foreign Minister Sergiy Kyslytsya, who took part in negotiations with Russian representatives in Istanbul on May 16, confirmed that the head of the Russian delegation, Vladimir Medinsky, directly threatened the Ukrainian side.

The diplomat said this in a post on the social media platform X.

Despite America’s faults, generations grew up believing the United States to be on the side of good. Now a pall of moral apathy has settled over the nation.

All cultures tell themselves flattering fables, manufactured myths designed to show them in a favorable light, to emphasize the better angels of their natures.

Ask a random American (such as myself) what we stand for, and there’s a fair chance he’ll say something like “we’re the good guys,” the people you can count on to stand up for the underdog, the folks who loathe injustice. Recall that Superman stood for “Truth, Justice, and the American Way,” and when he got together with fellow comic book heroes like Batman and Wonder Woman, they were, of course, called “the Justice League of America.” And indeed, there’s more than a grain of truth to this. In the words of one Nazi concentration camp survivor: “It was the luckiest day of my life… when I saw the first American soldier from afar. What a joy. I couldn’t believe my eyes. I was sure it was a dream, but still it was true…”

Russia continues to make a mockery of Trump’s ‘peace-making’ statements.

Ukraine said Sunday that Russia had launched a record number of drones at the country overnight, targeting various regions, including that of the capital Kyiv, where a woman was killed.

The attacks came two days after the first direct peace talks between officials from Russia and Ukraine in more than three years, which failed to produce a truce.

Tense voting in the Presidential election in Romania, Ukraine’s neighbor, as a Trump-fellow traveler goes up against a pro-democracy, pro-EU mayor, possibly reshaping Bucharest’s stance in NATO.

Romanians began voting Sunday in a tense presidential election rerun, a tight race between a fan of US President Donald Trump and a pro-EU mayor that could reshape the direction of the key NATO member bordering war-torn Ukraine.

If nationalist George Simion wins the rerun -- held after last year’s vote was annulled over allegations of election interference -- he would become the country’s first far-right president.

The military exercise demonstrates NATO’s capabilities – but the conspicuous absence of American troops points to the doubts hanging over the alliance.

Ämari Air Base, ESTONIA – Speakers strung across Estonia’s sole operational air base blare an exercise/training status warning: “TEST, TEST, TEST – AIR RAID ALERT!”

From cue to deployment, it would take less than 15 minutes for the handful of F-16 fighters stationed here to scramble and take off to guard Baltic skies and respond to potential incursions.

Overnight attacks on the capital and its suburbs killed one woman and wounded three, including a child. Ukraine’s Air Force says it downed 88 of 273 drones. Firefighting continues hours later.

Overnight on May 18, Russian forces attacked the Kyiv region with about 80 drones, with at least one fatality and three wounded, according to the Kyiv Regional Military Administration (KOVA).

“Unfortunately, as a result of the enemy attack in the Obukhiv district, a woman died from her injuries. A 61-year-old man, a 59-year-old woman, and a 4-year-old child were wounded. They have been taken to the hospital. All necessary medical care is being provided. The condition of the injured is moderate,” reported Mykola Kalashnyk, head of the Kyiv Regional Military Administration. statement said.

A former Norwegian soldier fell in love with Ukraine. Unable to not act, he founded an organization so he could bring help where needed. Now he’s making a film about the two cultures’ historic ties.

IZYUM, Ukraine – At the checkpoint, a young Ukrainian policeman approaches the white van that just pulled up. The driver, Harald Omland, rolls down the window, flashes an affable smile and hands the policeman his passport.

“Norway?”

What the European media are saying about the importance of today’s voting in Romania.

In the Romanian presidential run-off vote on Sunday, Nicușor Dan, a pro-European independent candidate and mayor of Bucharest, is pitted against George Simion from the ultra-right AUR party. Simion scored a clear victory in the first round of the election, securing 41 percent of the vote compared to Dan’s 21 percent. Tensions are running high in the commentary sections.

A game-changing vote

Blending her rich cultural roots with powerful storytelling, Sophia Hodych’s “Art of Courage” draws from personal and political narratives to challenge conventions and shake up the theatre world.

Sophia Hodych is not your typical theater maker.

As a Ukrainian-Australian artist, she weaves personal history with political urgency, creating work that resonates far beyond the stage. Her latest immersive production, “Art of Courage,” transforms Brisbane’s PIP Theatre into the fractured, resilient heart of wartime Ukraine. Blending documentary-style storytelling with audience interaction, the piece invites viewers to walk in the footsteps of refugees, rebels, and survivors.

Zelensky met with the leaders of Switzerland and Canada, which now holds the G7 Presidency. Canada’s Prime Minister confirmed the invitation for Zelensky to take part in the G7 Summit in June.

In Rome on Saturday, President Volodymyr Zelensky met with Swiss President Karin Keller-Sutter and separately with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, who as the current holder of the G7 Presidency confirmed the inviation for Ukraine’s leader to attend the Summit of the world’s foremost democratic governments in June.

Zelensky held his first meeting with the Prime Minister of Canada, during which they discussed the full and unconditional ceasefire, pressure on Russia, continued support for Ukraine, and Canada’s Presidency of the G7, according to the Ukrainian Presidential Office.

Poles votes on Sunday in a close presidential election that will decide the future of the country’s centrist government, especially on abortion and LGBTQ rights in the traditionally Catholic country.

Poles vote on Sunday in a tight presidential election that will be decisive for the future of the country’s centrist government as well as for abortion and LGBTQ rights.

Pro-EU Warsaw mayor Rafal Trzaskowski is expected to get 30 percent, ahead of nationalist historian Karol Nawrocki’s 25 percent, according to opinion polls.

China is the most important country in the world for Russia’s war machine. Beijing is playing a subtle game of geopolitics, but Zelensky has thus far been able to keep up.

The People’s Republic of China is one of the most powerful and complex countries in the world. To understand even its name and essence is a major undertaking. Is it communist? No one can answer with certainty. Perhaps the best description is that it is a capitalist state under full state authoritarian control.

How it can be considered a people’s republic when democracy is non-existent is one of the conundrums of politics. What we know is that it is powerful in terms of the size of its population and economy. In fact, according to world ranking, it is the second richest country in the world, but its population probably does not experience this wealth.

To every true Ukrainian, the house has always been more than just a dwelling place.

Johann Georg Kohl, a German geographer, wrote in 1838, “The Ukrainians live in tidy huts that are always kept clean and seem to be smiling at you. The housewives do not only wash them every Saturday like the Dutch do, they also whitewash their houses every fortnight. That is why houses in Ukraine look very trim and nice, like newly bleached linen.”

Kohl described the houses typical of the central part of Ukraine that he visited – one-story, wooden and with thatched roofs – while there has always been a vast variety of building materials, sizes, designs and colors of houses across the different regions of this country. Yet each word in his description is true in regard to houses in all the Ukrainian lands. 

Peace through strength is more than just a slogan. We are now seeing deeds that indicate a fresh alignment of US interests and ideals with Ukraine’s fight for freedom.

It was just 15 minutes in Rome, but it changed everything.

At the funeral of Pope Francis, the weight of the world hung heavy in the air. Faith leaders, heads of state, and grieving citizens gathered in solemn remembrance. And in the midst of it all, out in the open, President Trump and President Zelensky sat down face to face. It was not scripted. It was not symbolic. It was real. A deliberate, visible show of connection at a critical moment – one encouraged by Pastor Mark Burns, who had long called for unity in action. What followed was not just a diplomatic exchange. It was the beginning of a global shift.