"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.
Errol Musk, the father of tech billionaire Elon Musk at his house Langebaan, South Africa on May 26, 2022. (Photo by Gianluigi Guercia / AFP)
Elon Musk's father, Errol, has expressed his admiration for Russian President Vladimir Putin "as a man," saying it would be "foolish not to admire (him)" in an interview with BBC Russia published on April 3.
In the interview, he said "only in time will it be possible to understand who really started" the full-scale invasion of Ukraine — despite it being Russia — and said he considers Putin "a strong leader."
"It would be foolish not to admire Putin. I listen to his speeches — he says logical things. If you view him simply as a man, not in the context of international politics, it's hard not to have respect for Mr. Putin," he said.
Errol Musk is a South African former businessman and politician known to have had a fractious relationship with his children.
Elon’s younger brother, Kimbal, has previously said their father would scream at them for several hours at a time, calling them worthless and pathetic.
When asked in the BBC Russia interview about Musk's attitude toward Putin, Errol said their views were similar.
"We all think so. We're all the same," he said in reference to his family.
Errol also said that Musk’s decision to provide Ukraine with the Starlink satellite internet network at the beginning of the war in 2022 was right, but now the war "has dragged on and goes on and on."
Errol Musk rejected the idea that Musk's move into politics was due to business interests, saying their family does not need additional income.
"God heavens, we have everything. We don't need money or one more successful business," he added.
Elon Musk oversees SpaceX, which holds billions of dollars in U.S. government contracts with the Pentagon and NASA, and has a $1.8-billion intelligence community contract to develop a spy satellite network.
Musk has claimed he possesses a U.S. security clearance, allowing him access to classified information.
SpaceX’s dominance in the U.S. space sector, with its Starlink network of almost 7,000 satellites, plays a critical role in U.S. military communications, including those of Ukraine’s armed forces on the battlefield.
Chris York
