"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.
Illustrative image of cannabis growing freely in nature. (Aleksandr Gusev/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
The legalization of medical cannabis entered into force in Ukraine on Aug. 16, allowing veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder and people with serious illnesses such as cancer to access the drug.
President Volodymyr Zelensky signed the law on medical cannabis on Feb. 15, 2024, after it was passed by Ukraine's parliament in December 2023.
Zelensky previously voiced support for the legalization of medical cannabis in his address to parliament on Constitution Day on June 28, 2023.
The distribution of cannabis for recreational purposes is still prohibited, and the government will strictly control the sale and distribution of medical cannabis.
Only patients with a prescription from a doctor are able to buy the drug legally. According to lawmaker Yaroslav Zhelezniak, the drug will only be prescribed by a doctor to a patient according to their specific condition, as is currently the case with morphine.
The law licenses the economic activity of cultivating hemp for medical, industrial, and scientific purposes "to create conditions for expanding patients' access to the necessary treatment of oncological diseases and post-traumatic stress disorders."
Experts estimate that PTSD may impact around 30% of soldiers and veterans in Ukraine.
Over the past two years, the Ukrainian Electronic Healthcare System (EHS) has recorded a significant increase in the number of patients with PTSD. The same number of patients were diagnosed in the first two months of 2024 as in the entire year of 2021.
Kateryna Hodunova
