"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.
Former Chancellor Angela Merkel (R) and current Chancellor Olaf Scholz attend a state banquet in honour of French President Emmanuel Macron at Schloss Bellevue palace on May 26, 2024 in Berlin, Germany. (Sean Gallup/Getty Images)
Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel has emphasized the critical role of the United States and NATO in ensuring Ukraine's independence amid Russia's invasion.
Speaking at the North Rhine-Westphalia CDU's New Year's reception in Düsseldorf, Merkel said that the transatlantic partnership is more essential now than ever, underscoring its importance as Donald Trump prepared to take office as U.S. president.
"The attack by Russian President Vladimir Putin has shattered the principle of territorial integrity that underpinned Europe’s post-war order," Merkel said, according to Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. She argued that only through a united NATO effort, with strong U.S. leadership, can Putin's ambitions be thwarted and Ukraine's sovereignty preserved.
Merkel described Trump as a "unique president" who focuses on defending U.S. interests but views international cooperation as a zero-sum game. Unlike multilateral approaches that seek mutual benefit, Trump operates on the belief that every negotiation produces a winner and a loser, she said.
While acknowledging that Trump’s outlook cannot be changed, Merkel urged Europe to consolidate its own interests and remain a steadfast partner to the U.S. "Europe is our life insurance," she said, highlighting the continent’s strategic value in global alliances.
Merkel also took aim at the challenges facing Germany’s current government and expressed her support for Friedrich Merz, the CDU leader, to take the chancellorship after the upcoming federal election on Feb. 23.
Germany has become Ukraine’s second-largest military donor after the U.S., though Chancellor Olaf Scholz has faced criticism for his cautious stance on key issues, including his refusal to supply Taurus long-range cruise missiles to Ukraine.
Olena Goncharova is the Head of North America desk at The Kyiv Independent, where she has previously worked as a development manager and Canadian correspondent. She first joined the Kyiv Post, Ukraine's oldest English-language newspaper, as a staff writer in January 2012 and became the newspaper’s Canadian correspondent in June 2018. She is based in Edmonton, Alberta. Olena has a master’s degree in publishing and editing from the Institute of Journalism in Taras Shevchenko National University in Kyiv. Olena was a 2016 Alfred Friendly Press Partners fellow who worked for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette for six months. The program is administered by the University of Missouri School of Journalism in Columbia.
Martin Fornusek
