"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.
U.S. talk show host Tucker Carlson is seen during an interview with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin in Moscow on Feb. 6, 2024. (Gavriil Grigorov / POOL / AFP via Getty Images)
Far-right American commentator Tucker Carlson is spreading misinformation and parroting Kremlin narratives, President Volodymyr Zelensky said in an interview with U.K. journalist Piers Morgan published Feb. 4.
In a previous interview between Carlson and Morgan, Carlson accused Zelensky of behaving like a dictator by suppressing religious freedom and the rights of Russian speakers in Ukraine.
"That is all lies, that is all (Russian President Vladimir) Putin's narrative," Zelensky said in response.
By regurgitating pro-Kremlin talking points, Carlson is "misinforming" the American public, Zelensky told Morgan. Zelensky also pointed out that Russia's full-scale war has hit territories in eastern Ukraine the hardest, meaning that Putin's violence has disproportionately targeted Russian speakers.
"Regrettably, this blogger or journalist, whatever he wants to call himself, he fully repeats the words of Putin. ... He works for Putin."
Carlson, a conservative commentator and close ally of U.S. President Donald Trump, is among the strongest pro-Russian voices in the U.S., spreading the Kremlin's unsubstantiated claims across a variety of platforms.
Last year, Carlson aired interviews with both Putin and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, allowing them to repeat debunked narratives of Ukrainian-Russian history unchallenged.
Zelensky suggested that Carlson work to better understand Ukraine and stop circulating propaganda on behalf of the Russian government.
"It seems to me this journalist ... He needs to stop working for Putin, to stop licking his ass, honestly."
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.
Andrea Januta
