"Ukraine and all allies are ready for a complete unconditional ceasefire on land, in the air, and at sea for at least 30 days, starting as early as Monday," Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha wrote.
U.S. President Donald Trump has acknowledged in private that Russia is difficult to negotiate with because they "want the whole thing," referring to Ukraine, the WSJ reported, citing sources familiar with the comments.
A notice about the airspace closure was published on the U.S. Defense Department's NOTAM (Notice to Airmen) website on May 10, as cited by Ukrainian defense news outlet Militarnyi.
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.
Editor’s Note: The Kyiv Independent publishes a joint statement of Ukrainian media outlets on the day Ukrainian journalist Georgiy Gongadze was kidnapped in 2000. He was later found dead near Kyiv. Though the perpetrators of this crime were imprisoned, those who ordered the assassination were never identified and punished.
On Sept. 16, 2000, a group of law enforcers kidnapped journalist and founder of the Ukrainska Pravda media outlet Georgiy Gongadze. His mutilated headless body was found in November of that year in a forest in Kyiv Oblast.
Today marks 22 years since these horrific events. Since then, partial justice has been served thanks to the efforts of Gongadze’s family, the media community, and international organizations. All perpetrators of the crime were punished. However, those who ordered the murder of Gongadze have not been officially named.
Gongadze's death is one of the most notorious, but, unfortunately, not the only case of the violent death of a Ukrainian journalist. On July 20, 2016, journalist Pavlo Sheremet was killed in Kyiv. The investigation into those who ordered the murder of Sheremet is still ongoing.
On May 4, 2019, journalist Vadym Komarov was brutally beaten in the city of Cherkasy. After 46 days in a coma, he died. The crime still remains unsolved, and the perpetrators along with those who ordered the murder remain unpunished.
We demand from the authorities:
to identify and punish those who ordered the murder of Gongadze, namely, give a clear answer regarding the alleged complicity of ex-president Leonid Kuchma in ordering it;
to identify and punish the perpetrators and those who ordered the murder of Sheremet, as well as speed up the investigation of other cases of journalists’ murder, where perpetrators and those who ordered them have not yet been officially identified;
to increase the effectiveness of the investigation of criminal offenses against Ukrainian journalists, and to provide journalists with effective protection and an adequate level of security.
Today we also honor 38 of our fellow journalists who have been killed by the Russian military in Ukraine since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion this year. Eight of them were killed while being on assignment.
We call on the Ukrainian law enforcement agencies to promptly investigate all these murders, which are war crimes of the Russian Federation, and to ensure justice not only in Ukraine, but also to put all necessary effort into bringing Russian criminals to the international tribunal.
Ukraine is fighting for its independence. Every day Ukrainians pay a high price with their lives for the society to live in a democracy with the rule of law.
After the victory, Ukraine will rebuild its life, and it is crucial for all the murderers of heroes — soldiers, journalists, activists — to be punished.
The Kyiv Independent is an award-winning English-language media outlet that offers on-the-ground reporting from Ukraine. The publication has received international recognition for its coverage of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
