"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.
Russia's President Vladimir Putin visits a prosthetic and a rehabilitation centre for servicemembers who were wounded while participating in Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, in Moscow on Dec. 3, 2024. (Valery Sharifulin / POOL / AFP)
Russian President Vladimir Putin has directed the Russian government and the state-owned bank Sberbank to develop artificial intelligence (AI) technology partnerships with China, according to instructions published on the Kremlin web portal on Jan. 1.
Moscow's alliance with Beijing has helped Russia gain access to technology and equipment that have been blocked by Western sanctions due to the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Putin told the government and Sberbank to "ensure further cooperation with the People's Republic of China in technological research and development in the field of artificial intelligence."
Sberbank has been tasked with leading Russia's AI development effort.
International sanctions have limited Russia's ability to develop its AI industry. Major producers of microchips no longer ship to Russia due to restrictions, though the country still obtains products via third-party sellers in other countries.
Graphics processing units (GPUs), microchips essential for AI development, have been difficult for Russia to replace, Sberbank CEO German Gref said in 2023.
Putin said on Dec. 11 that he wanted to develop a new AI Alliance Network with members of BRICS and other interested countries. Sberbank claimed that AI associations from Brazil, China, India, and South Africa had already joined the network.
BRICS is a bloc of emerging economies often portrayed as a counterweight to the Western-led world.
China has deepened its ties with Russia since the start of the Kremlin's full-scale war against Ukraine, although Beijing has denied accusations of supporting Russia's military efforts.
Chinese President Xi Jinping exchanged New Year greetings with Putin on Dec. 31, saying "the political mutual trust and strategic coordination between the two sides have continuously marched to a higher level under the strategic guidance of the two leaders."
Abbey Fenbert is a senior news editor at the Kyiv Independent. She is a freelance writer, editor, and playwright with an MFA from Boston University. Abbey served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Ukraine from 2008-2011.
The Kyiv Independent news desk
