"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.
Polish and Ukrainian flags in Warsaw. March 26, 2022. (STR/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Piotr Lukasiewicz will become the new Polish ambassador to Ukraine on Sep. 1, Polish news outlet RMF reported on Aug. 24, citing Polish Foreign Ministry spokesperson Pawel Wronski.
In March, the Polish Foreign Ministry announced that over 50 ambassadors would terminate their missions and that more than a dozen candidates submitted for approval by the previous ministry leadership would be withdrawn.
Lukasiewicz will replace Jaroslaw Guzy in Kyiv, appointed by the previous Polish government under Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki and started his tenure in December 2023.
Lukasiewicz is a political scientist, diplomat, and Polish Armed Forces reserve colonel. From 1995 to 2006, he worked on state security and counterterrorism issues. Lukasiewicz also participated in stabilization missions in Iraq in 2004 and 2005.
In 2006, he was deputy military attache in Islamabad, and in January 2007, Lukasiewicz became a colonel and the army attache in Afghanistan. He retired in 2012 with the rank of colonel before becoming ambassador to Afghanistan. The Polish diplomat completed his mission on Deс. 31, 2014.
According to Polish law, the president appoints and dismisses ambassadors.
Earlier, the head of the presidential cabinet, Marcin Mastalerek, said that Polish President Andrzej Duda would not agree with the mass dismissal of ambassadors "without specific grounds and reasons."
In early June, Duda assessed that the staffing of diplomatic missions was carried out in "the worst possible way," adding that he would not sign the appointment of some ambassadors. Particularly, Duda does not agree with the candidates of Bogdan Klich and Ryszard Schnepf.
Poland is one of Ukraine's most steadfast supporters. According to the Kiel Institute, Poland has allocated 4.3 billion euros ($4.8 billion) to Ukraine.
Kateryna Hodunova is a News Editor at the Kyiv Independent. She previously worked as a sports journalist in several Ukrainian outlets and was the deputy chief editor at Suspilne Sport. Kateryna covered the 2022 Olympics in Beijing and was included in the Special Mentions list at the AIPS Sport Media Awards. She holds a bachelor's degree in political journalism from Taras Shevchenko University and a master's degree in political science from the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy.
Nate Ostiller
