"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.
Russian Direct Investment Fund head Kirill Dmitriev attends Russian-Chinese talks in Beijing, China, on May 16, 2024. (Contributor/Getty Images)
Moscow is using its negotiator, Kirill Dmitriev, to lead discussions with the U.S. on resource development and a partial unblocking of frozen Russian assets, President Volodymyr Zelensky told journalists on April 9.
Dmitriev, who heads the state-controlled Russian Direct Investment Fund, met with U.S. officials in Washington on behalf of Russian President Vladimir Putin last week. Ahead of the trip, the Russian official said that Washington and Moscow have begun discussions on projects related to Russian rare earth minerals.
Dmitriev is communicating Moscow's proposals to Washington, using his Middle Eastern connections, Zelensky said. The Russian envoy previously played a role in backchannel diplomacy between Moscow and Trump when the latter was first elected in 2016.
"The scheme looks like it all leads to the unblocking of economic relations. They (Russia) want, for example, the lifting of sanctions against specific people who will be behind this or that direction, for example, Russian minerals, which they will offer them (the U.S.)," Zelensky said.
The Ukrainian president’s sanctions commissioner, Vladyslav Vlasiuk, said in late February that Russia is most interested in removing sanctions against Russian oligarchs and energy exports.
Western nations froze some 300 billion euros (around $300 billion) in Russian assets after Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, with roughly two-thirds held in Europe.
According to Zelensky, Russia cannot fully unfreeze all its assets in the EU, but it could manage to release smaller sums between 2 and 5 billion euros ($2.2-$5.5 billion) through intermediaries among Middle Eastern leaders.
Previously, the president said that Moscow is pressuring foreign governments to help release the funds by offering deals involving high-tech goods such as aircraft construction parts.
The EU has already begun leveraging proceeds from frozen Russian assets to support Ukraine. Earlier on April 9, the bloc allocated another financial assistance tranche of 1 billion euros ($1.1 billion) as part of the G7 loan program for Kyiv.
Kateryna Denisova works as a News Editor at the Kyiv Independent. She previously worked as a news editor at the NV media outlet for four years, covering mainly Ukrainian and international politics. Kateryna holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Taras Shevchenko University of Kyiv. She also was a fellow at journalism schools in the Czech Republic and Germany.
Dominic Culverwell
