"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.
Chairman of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People Refat Chubarov speaks at the Antalya Diplomacy Forum in Antalya, Turkey on March 02, 2024. (Hakan Nural / Anadolu via Getty Images)
The Mejlis, the representative body of the Crimean Tatar people, will reject any international recognition of Russian-occupied Crimea as Russian territory, Refat Chubarov, the body's chairman, said in a statement published on Facebook on April 22.
Crimean Tatars are the indigenous people of Crimea, a Ukrainian peninsula that has been under Russian occupation since 2014.
Any move by the U.S. to recognize the peninsula as Russian would mark a break with a decade of bipartisan consensus in Washington and would violate international law.
Chubarov said the Mejlis' stance is grounded in international law and aligns fully with Ukrainian legislation.
"Crimea is the homeland of the indigenous Crimean Tatar people and an integral part of Ukraine. Accordingly, no one can decide the fate of Crimea under any circumstances, except for the Ukrainian state and the Crimean Tatar people," he wrote.
Russia illegally annexed Crimea following a sham referendum held under military occupation and without international observers. For resisting Russian occupation, Crimean Tatars have come under harsh repression by the Russian occupation authorities.
Crimean Tatars are represented by the Mejlis, a high representative and executive body with 33 members, and the Kurultai, a national congress with 350 delegates.
Crimean Tatars, historically the majority on the peninsula before Russia's conquest in 1783, have faced widespread persecution under Russian rule.
Since 2014, Moscow has used intimidation, religious profiling, and politically motivated terrorism charges to suppress dissent among Crimean Tatars.
Many Crimean Tatars have joined Ukraine's Armed Forces since Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022, with some serving in the volunteer "Crimea" Battalion formed after the 2014 occupation.
Ukraine's response to the U.S. proposal is expected at a follow-up meeting in London on April 23. Washington has indicated it may withdraw from ceasefire efforts in the coming days if no progress is made.
Ukrainian lawmakers have also opposed the proposal. Oleksandr Merezhko, chair of Ukraine's parliamentary foreign affairs committee, warned that recognizing Russia's annexation of Crimea would have global consequences "much worse than Munich in 1938."
Tim Zadorozhnyy is a news editor at The Kyiv Independent. Based in Warsaw, he is pursuing studies in International Relations, focusing on European Studies. Tim began his career at a local television channel in Odesa. After moving to Warsaw, he joined the Belarusian opposition media outlet NEXTA, starting as a news anchor and later advancing to the position of managing editor.
Asami Terajima
