"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.
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.
Illustrative purposes: Germany's Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock gives a speech in Berlin, Germany, on March 24, 2024. (Bernd von Jutrczenka/picture alliance via Getty Images)
The German government will provide Kyiv with an additional 60 million euros ($65 million) in humanitarian assistance, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said on May 27.
"The Russian terror is specifically targeting people and ordinary life in Ukraine by attacking shopping centers only to kill people and spread fear and terror," Baerbock said during a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels.
Russia launched a deadly attack against Kharkiv on May 25, hitting a supermarket and killing 16 people. Over 40 civilians were injured.
According to Baerbock, the newly allocated aid is primarily meant to alleviate the situation in eastern Ukraine.
The German foreign minister pledged that Berlin would provide further assistance to eastern Ukraine in cooperation with international organizations.
EU foreign ministers are meeting in Brussels to discuss the ongoing Russian war of aggression. Ukraine's head of diplomacy, Dmytro Kuleba, is expected to join as well via videoconference.
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.
Daria Shulzhenko
