"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. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth attends a meeting with Minister of Defense of Japan Gen Nakatani at the Ministry of Defense on March 30, 2025, in Tokyo, Japan. (Kiyoshi Ota / Getty Images)
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth will join the upcoming Ramstein-format meeting through a video conference despite earlier rumors he might skip the summit entirely, Defense News reported on April 8, citing U.S. and European official sources.
The April 11 meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group (UDCG) will take place in Brussels under the chairmanship of the U.K. and Germany.
Hegseth's predecessor, former Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, launched the UDCG after the outbreak of Russia's full-scale war in 2022 to coordinate assistance among some 50 of Kyiv's allies, jointly providing $126 billion in military aid for Ukraine.
European officials said that Hegseth joining online is a better option than his complete absence, but they would still prefer him arriving in person, Defense News wrote. The news outlet initially reported that, according to official sources, the Pentagon's chief would not attend the summit in person or online.
Austin has traditionally chaired the UDCG's meetings as the U.S. has been the leading military donor to Ukraine, providing some $67 billion in arms and equipment since 2022.
U.S. President Donald Trump's accession to office in January brought a major shift in the U.S.'s foreign policy. The new administration has yet to approve any new aid package for Kyiv and signaled reduced commitment to Europe's and Ukraine's security.
The 26th Ramstein format meeting on Feb. 12, the first summit since Trump took office, was also the first UDCG meeting not chaired by the U.S. defense secretary as Hegseth passed the role to his British counterpart, John Healey.
Hegseth nevertheless attended the Feb. 12 meeting in person while not committing any new assistance and calling Ukraine's hopes to join NATO and liberate all of its territories "unrealistic" in his address to the allies.
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.
Kateryna Denisova
