"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.
Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky talks to the media at the EU Council headquarters on March 18, 2024 in Brussels, Belgium. (Thierry Monasse/Getty Images)
Russian President Vladimir Putin's declaration of a temporary ceasefire on the Easter holiday amount to little more than "a media stunt," Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky said on April 20.
Putin announced on April 19 that an Easter ceasefire would last from 6 p.m. that evening until midnight on April 21. Russia has already violated the temporary truce multiple times, according to President Volodymyr Zelensky and soldiers on Ukraine's front lines.
Russia's failure to follow through on its own ceasefire demonstrate Putin's contempt of the peace process, Lipavsky told the Czech media outlet CNN Prima News.
"It's like going on a hunger strike between breakfast and lunch and secretly eating candy," he said.
"We see that the attacks are continuing. Ukraine reports that there have been a number of attacks, so the ceasefire declared in this way is more of a media stunt than reality."
The weekend ceasefire is also no substitution for the full 30-day ceasefire on hostilities that the U.S. has been lobbying for since March, Lipavsky continued.
"Putin never agreed to that and started to set other conditions. We should look at what the reality is rather than at the words," he said.
Ukraine has agreed to enter a complete month-long truce since March 11. Kyiv's only requirement is that Moscow abide by the same terms — but the Kremlin has continuously pushed back on Washington's proposal, demanding extraordinary concessions from Ukraine in exchange for a pause on attacks.
Putin's declaration of an Easter truce came shortly after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to withdraw from peace negotiations between Russia and Ukraine.
"If for some reason one of the two parties makes it very difficult, we're just going to say: 'you're foolish, you're fools, you're horrible people,' and we're just going to take a pass," Trump told reporters on April 18.
The following day, Putin claimed he ordered the Easter ceasefire.
Relations between the U.S. and Russia have warmed significantly since Trump's election and subsequent involvement in peace negotiations. Washington is reportedly considering recognizing occupied Crimea as a Russian territory and lifting sanctions against Moscow as part of a future peace deal.
Lipavsky's dismissal of Putin's apparent posturing echoes the response of other European leaders to the so-called Easter truce. The U.K. foreign ministry on April 19 called on Russia to go beyond a "one-day pause" and commit to a complete ceasefire. Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani urged Putin "to finally stop this war he started."
Abbey Fenbert is a senior news editor at the Kyiv Independent. She is a freelance writer, editor, and playwright with an MFA from Boston University. Abbey served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Ukraine from 2008-2011.
Kate Tsurkan
