"Our involvement in the war was justifiable, and this belongs to our sovereign rights," North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un said. "I regard this as part of the sacred mission we must execute for our brothers and comrades-in-arms."
"We have a plan B and a plan C. But our focus is plan A, the essence of which is to get everyone's support" for Ukraine's accession, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said.
"(T)he presence at the Victory Parade of a country that bombs cities, hospitals, and daycares, and which has caused the deaths and injuries of over a million people over three years, is a shame," Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said.
"According to the participants of the performances, their goal is to remind the civilized world of the barbaric actions of Moscow, which for many years and decades has systematically violated international law," a source in Ukraine’s military intelligence agency (HUR) told the Kyiv Independent.
"I have great hope that an agreement for a ceasefire in Ukraine will be reached this weekend," German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on May 9, shortly before traveling to Kyiv alongside the leaders of France, Poland, and the U.K.
U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk will arrive in Kyiv early on May 10.
The United States embassy in Kyiv on May 9 issued a warning that Russia could launch "a potentially significant" attack in the coming days, despite Putin's self-declared Victory Day "truce."
The sanctioned oil tankers have transported over $24 billion in cargo since 2024, according to Downing Street. The U.K. has now sanctioned more shadow fleet vessels than any other country.
Washington and its partners are considering additional sanctions if the parties do not observe a ceasefire, with political and technical negotiations between Europe and the U.S. intensifying since last week, Reuters' source said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan hold a meeting on the sidelines of the summit of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) in Moscow, Russia on May 8, 2024. (Evgenia Novozhenina / POOL / AFP via Getty Images) #armenialili
Armenia has refused to pay its contributions to the budget of the Moscow-led Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) for the past year, the country's Foreign Ministry said on March 31, after suspending its participation in the military alliance in August 2024.
"Armenia refrains from signing the decision 'On the CSTO budget for 2024' and, accordingly, from participating in financing the organization's activities," a statement from the Foreign Ministry read.
The decision comes as the latest in a series of steps the country has taken to distance itself from the Russian-led security alliance.
The decision comes as earlier this year Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan announced that Armenia had suspended its participation in the CSTO "at all levels." Armenia first announcedit would not the bloc's financing in May 2024.
Armenia has had a historically close relationship with Russia, especially vis-a-vis its primary regional foe Azerbaijan, and has thus largely refrained from getting involved in Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine.
The calculus changed after Russian "peacekeepers" failed to prevent Azerbaijan's offensive into the Nagorno-Karabakh region, primarily populated by ethnic Armenians, in September 2023.
Disappointed with Russia and fearing renewed hostilities with Baku, Yerevan has turned West for new partnerships.
On March 26, the Armenian parliament passed a bill "On starting the process of accession of the Republic of Armenia to the European Union" in its second and final reading, though the South Caucasus country is yet to submit a EU membership application.
In late January, then-U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan signed a strategic partnership commission charter between the U.S and Armenia, establishing a framework for expanded bilateral cooperation in the areas of economic cooperation, security and defense, and democracy, among others.
Despite not submitted a statement regarding the suspension of the country's membership, Pashinyan said that his country's return to the CSTO was "increasingly more difficult if not impossible."
Dmytro Basmat is a senior news editor for The Kyiv Independent. He previously worked in Canadian politics as a communications lead and spokesperson for a national political party, and as a communications assistant for a Canadian Member of Parliament. Basmat has a Master's degree in Political Management from Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada, and a Bachelor of Arts in Politics and Governance from Toronto Metropolitan University.
Martin Fornusek
