Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov rejected the idea of a 30-day ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine, claiming in an interview with ABC News on May 10 that it would be "an advantage" for Ukraine.
"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.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban gives his first international press conference after his Fidesz party won the parliamentary election, in the Karmelita monastery housing the prime minister's office in Budapest, Hungary, on April 6, 2022. (Attila Kisbenedek/AFP via Getty Images)
German members of the European Parliament (MEPs), Daniel Freund and Damian Bezelager, sent a letter to European Council President Charles Michel, demanding to suspend Hungary's presidency of the EU Council.
The letter was reportedly signed by 20,000 signatures of EU citizens and published on June 27 on Freund's account on X.
The Belgian presidency in the Council of the EU terminates at the end of June. The Hungarian presidency of the Council of the EU begins on July 1 and will last for half a year.
"It would be extremely harmful for the reputation of our Union if the current Hungarian government would represent us Europeans in any capacity, just after the European elections," the letter said.
The MEPs recalled how Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban compared the EU to a dictatorship and emphasized Hungary's close relations with Russia, which continues its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
The high level of corruption, as well as undermining the rule of law and media freedom in Hungary, are also mentioned in the letter.
"Hungary, in its current state, would never pass the accession criteria to join the EU. Its criminal leadership should, therefore, not be allowed to represent the Union."
Hungary has repeatedly opposed Ukraine's accession to NATO and the EU, as well as sanctions on Russia, since the start of the full-scale invasion in 2022.
Orban earlier presented a seven-point programthat should become a guideline for Hungary as the EU Council President. The program does not prioritize assistance for Ukraine.
Hungary also does not plan to convene EU-Ukraine summits in the next six months but wants to hold a summit in the Western Balkans instead.
Kateryna Hodunova is a News Editor at the Kyiv Independent. She previously worked as a sports journalist in several Ukrainian outlets and was the deputy chief editor at Suspilne Sport. Kateryna covered the 2022 Olympics in Beijing and was included in the Special Mentions list at the AIPS Sport Media Awards. She holds a bachelor's degree in political journalism from Taras Shevchenko University and a master's degree in political science from the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy.
Sonya Bandouil
