"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.
(From L to R) Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Chinese President Xi Jinping, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov pose for a photo during the 2023 BRICS Summit in Johannesburg, South Africa, on Aug. 23, 2023. (Giangluigi Guercia/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
Cuba has requested to join the BRICS group as a "partner country" in an official letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin, a Cuban Foreign Ministry official said on Oct. 8.
BRICS, composed of Russia, China, India, Brazil, and other nations, is a group of emerging economies often portrayed as a counterweight to the Western-led world.
"Cuba has officially requested to join the BRICS as a 'partner country' through a letter to the president of Russia, Vladimir Putin, who holds the presidency of the group," said Carlos M. Pereira, the director of bilateral relations at the Cuban Foreign Ministry, in an X post shared by the ministry's official account.
Russian Ambassador to Cuba Viktor Koronelli also told the Russian state agency TASS on Oct. 7 that Havana has officially applied for a partnership with BRICS.
Four new members – Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, and the United Arab Emirates – joined the international organization at the start of 2024. This marked the group's first expansion since December 2010, when South Africa became a member.
The "partner country" status, which does not mean full membership, has been promoted by BRICS diplomats as an alternative way to engage countries of the Global South.
Cuba requested to join the organization as a full member in 2023 but did not receive a positive response.
The Caribbean island country ruled for decades by the communist party has deepened cooperation with Moscow over their shared rivalry with the U.S.
Russian warships briefly docked at Cuba in June as a likely demonstration of strength to Washington, which has backed Ukraine against Russian invasion forces.
Martin Fornusek is a news editor at the Kyiv Independent. He has previously worked as a news content editor at the media company Newsmatics and is a contributor to Euromaidan Press. He was also volunteering as an editor and translator at the Czech-language version of Ukraïner. Martin studied at Masaryk University in Brno, Czechia, holding a bachelor's degree in security studies and history and a master's degree in conflict and democracy studies.
Katie Marie Davies
