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."
The entrance to Garda Headquarters in the Phoenix Park, Dublin. (Photo by Brian Lawless/PA Images via Getty Images)
Russia is one of a small group of hostile foreign states carrying out spying operations in Ireland, Michael McElgunn, assistant commissioner of Ireland's national police force, said in a radio interview Aug. 4.
Over the past several months, authorities have arrested numerous individuals accused of spying on behalf of the Russian Federation inside Poland, Germany, Estonia, and Austria, raising questions about Russian influence inside Europe.
"What we're particularly concerned about is a handful of states who are engaged in spying activities on sovereign soil with malign intent," McElgunn told RTE Radio.
"If we look at events in Europe and we look at the Russian Federation invasion of Ukraine, I don't think too many viewers would be surprised if I were to say that Russia were one of these states."
McElgunn heads the security and intelligence bureau of the Garda Siochana, Ireland's national police. As Ireland maintains diplomatic relations with Russia, McElgunn was hesitant to name Russia directly as a hostile state.
"Russia is one of the countries that we have an interest in in the general space," he said.
McElgunn said that the Garda is closely monitoring certain individuals suspected of espionage activities and that Ireland cooperates closely with foreign partners in these matters.
"We work very closely internationally in that regard because a lot of these hostile state agents will move and we work with our colleagues to have an understanding of who might be in our state from time to time and to manage entry in and out of the state by people of that nature," he said.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said on July 14 that Ireland is preparing a security agreement with Ukraine.
Ireland has a policy of neutrality, is not a member of NATO, and has one of the lowest rates of defense spending across the EU, at around 0.2% of its GDP.
Its government has remained committed to not providing lethal military aid to Kyiv, but has recognized Russia's war against Ukraine as genocide.
The country has also taken in around 100,000 Ukrainian refugees since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion.
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.
Chris York
