"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 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.
U.S. President Joe Biden meets Russian opposition figure Vladimir Kara-Murza and his family in the White House on Aug. 15, 2024. (POTUS / X)
Russian opposition figure and journalist Vladimir Kara-Murza visited the White House upon his return to the U.S., weeks after being freed from Russian prison, U.S. President Joe Biden announced on Aug. 15.
Kara-Murza was released from Russian prison on Aug. 1 as part of a historic prisoner exchange between the West and Russia.
The Istanbul-mediated swap involved 26 people from seven countries, including Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan.
"I welcomed Vladimir Kara-Murza and his family to the White House today to celebrate his return to America," Biden posted on X on Aug. 15 at 10:10 p.m. local time.
"Vladimir spent two and a half years unjustly imprisoned in Russia for speaking out against Russia's war in Ukraine. Today his family is whole once more," Biden added.
Kara-Murza was sentenced to 25 years in prison in April 2023 for condemning Russia's all-out war in Ukraine.
A dual Russian-British citizen, Kara-Murza had been arrested in Russia in April 2022. He was charged with "treason," "spreading false information" on the Russian military, and belonging to an "undesirable" foreign organization.
While imprisoned, Kara-Murza won the Pulitzer Prize in May for the commentary he wrote from his prison cell.
Kateryna Hodunova
