"(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.
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko stands near military trucks at the City State Administration on Dec. 26, 2023 in Kyiv, Ukraine. (Oleksii Samsonov/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images)
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said in a July 21 interview that President Volodymyr Zelensky will likely need to hold a public referendum before agreeing to any territorial compromises with Russia.
The statement follows a proposal by former U.S. President Donald Trump for a peace deal between Ukraine and Russia. As Trump's victory in the Nov. 5 presidential election becomes more likely, efforts are underway to sway him to Ukraine's side and ensure that any potential deal is favorable to Kyiv.
"The next few months will be very difficult for Volodymyr Zelensky. Should he continue the war with new deaths and destruction, or consider a territorial compromise with Putin?" Klitschko said during an interview with the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera. "How can we explain to the country that we need to give up pieces of our territory that cost the lives of thousands of our fighting heroes? Whatever move he makes, our president risks political suicide."
He said that "Zelensky will probably need to resort to a referendum."
"I don't think he can reach such painful and important agreements on his own without popular legitimization," Klitschko added.
Three-quarters of Ukrainians were opposed to Ukraine making territorial concessions to Russia to reach a peace deal, according to a poll published in December by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology, a slight decrease from the 84% who said were opposed in May 2023.
In the same interview, Klitschko criticized Zelensky for concentrating power in his office, and said Ukraine's parliament had been rendered irrelevant.
Because elections are impossible, Klitschko pushed for the creation of a national unity government, to "avoid having all important choices relegated only to the President's Office," but expressed doubt that Zelensky would be willing to give up any power to achieve this.
Klitschko and Zelensky have been at odds since the president's first year in office. The conflict has played out in repeated investigations and attempts to remove the mayor from the Kyiv City State Administration.
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Elsa Court
