U.S. President Donald Trump has acknowledged in private that Russia is difficult to negotiate with because they "want the whole thing," referring to Ukraine, the WSJ reported, citing sources familiar with the comments.
A notice about the airspace closure was published on the U.S. Defense Department's NOTAM (Notice to Airmen) website on May 10, as cited by Ukrainian defense news outlet Militarnyi.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov rejected the idea of a 30-day ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine, claiming in an interview with ABC News on May 10 that it would be "an advantage" for Ukraine.
"Our involvement in the war was justifiable, and this belongs to our sovereign rights," North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un said. "I regard this as part of the sacred mission we must execute for our brothers and comrades-in-arms."
"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."
President Volodymyr Zelensky talking to journalists during the Munich Security Conference in Munich, Germany, on Feb. 14, 2025. (Olena Zashko/The Kyiv Independent)
Intelligence reports indicate that there is a "high risk" Russia is preparing troops for a possible invasion of NATO member states, President Volodymyr Zelensky told NBC News in an interview published Feb. 16.
Zelensky spoke to NBC on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference, where he is leading a Ukrainian delegation in talks with European and U.S. leaders on the current state of the war as it approaches its third-year anniversary.
Russia is training 150,000 troops in Belarus for a large-scale operation that could happen as early as this summer, Zelensky said. The preparations could signal a plan to invade a NATO country.
"There are risks that this can be Poland and Lithuania, because we believe that (Russian President Vladimir) Putin will wage war against NATO," he said.
Ukraine has "intelligence" and "documents" regarding Russia's troop buildup in Belarus, but does not exactly know what Putin is planning to do, according to Zelensky. The president said Ukraine had shared these intelligence reports with allies.
Russia is "waiting for a weakening of NATO," Zelensky warned. He also said he believes Putin only wants a ceasefire in order to prepare greater numbers of troops for more ambitious future military actions.
"He is thinking not only about Ukraine," Zelensky said.
There is a "high risk" that Russia will set its sights on other countries, particularly those near Ukraine that are now NATO member states, he said.
At the outset of the Munich Security Conference, Zelensky said that Russia was training large numbers of soldiers in Belarus for a major military escalation. In his comments to NBC, he said that the move echoed the military exercises Russia staged ahead of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Two days before the conference began, a declassified Danish intelligence report warned that Russia may find the opportunity to launch a large-scale war on Europe within five years, if Moscow "perceives NATO as militarily weakened or politically divided."
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said that such an attack would be "devastating" for Moscow.
"If Putin attacks NATO, the reaction will be devastating. He will lose," Rutte said.
The warnings come amid a dramatic shift in U.S. foreign policy towards Europe, NATO, and Russia. U.S. President Donald Trump has been critical of the alliance, sparking outrage last year when he said he would let Russia to do "whatever the hell they want" to NATO members failing to meet defense spending criteria.
Trump has also arranged to meet with Putin in Saudi Arabia for bilateral talks without representation from Ukraine or Europe. Ahead of any ceasefire negotiations with Russia, Trump has already signaled that he believes NATO membership for Ukraine is not "practical."
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.
Asami Terajima
