"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.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen delivers an address to the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France, on Sept. 13, 2023. Illustrative purposes only. (Stefan Wermuth/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
The European Commission supported the start of accession talks with Ukraine, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said on June 7.
"Now we expect our European partners to take the next step – to start the membership negotiations already this month," Shmyhal wrote on Telegram.
Ukraine received EU membership candidate status in June 2022. In November 2023, the European Commission recommended launching accession talks with Kyiv. The European Council then agreed in December to open accession talks with Ukraine and Moldova.
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty's journalist Rikard Jozwiak reported that the EU's executive arm confirmed that both Ukraine and Moldova "have fully completed all steps to start talks."
For talks to begin, the EU needs to unanimously agree that Ukraine has undertaken measures to improve issues like corruption and the protection of minority languages. Hungary is expected to raise objections, mainly regarding minority rights.
Budapest has repeatedly claimed that the Hungarian ethnic minority concentrated in southwestern Ukraine is discriminated against due to Kyiv's language laws.
EU and Ukrainian officials are reportedly pushing for the talks to start by June 25 before Hungary takes the presidency of the EU Council in July.
Relations between Kyiv and Budapest became particularly tense throughout the full-scale war, as Hungary maintained close ties with Russia and obstructed aid to Ukraine and sanctions against Moscow.
Martin Fornusek
