"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.
Illustrative purposes only: Coal in freight wagons ahead of shipping at Tomusinskaya railway station near Mezhdurechensk, Russia, on July 19, 2021. (Andrey Rudakov/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
China has been decreasing coal imports from Russia despite a steady growth in domestic demand, turning instead to Australian and Mongolian suppliers, The Moscow Times reported on Jan. 21, citing Chinese customs data.
This development signals another blow to the Russian coal industry, which is already facing multibillion-dollar losses and mass bankruptcies.
Russia’s share in Chinese coal imports shrank despite the latter’s demand growing by 14% in 2024 compared to the previous year, The Moscow Times reported.
Russia’s coal exports to China were said to have dropped by almost 7%, with Mongolian and Australian coal export volumes growing 18% and 60%, respectively, in 2024 compared to 2023.
Warnings that Russia’s coal industry was beginning to nosedive appeared in the second half of 2024, when AC TEK, a Russian state analytical center under the Energy Ministry, published a dire assessment.
Western sanctions, insufficient transport infrastructure to the east, and Chinese tariffs levied on Russian coal are contributing to the industry's setback.
Despite growing economic ties between Moscow and Beijing, the Western sanctions have presented an increasingly serious obstacle to Russian-Chinese trade relations.
Boldizsar is a former Reuters correspondent for Hungary, currently based in Kharkiv, reporting for the Kyiv Independent and various other outlets. He holds degrees in political science, philosophy, and development policy.
Tim Zadorozhnyy
