"Ukraine and all allies are ready for a complete unconditional ceasefire on land, in the air, and at sea for at least 30 days, starting as early as Monday," Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha wrote.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes: Smoking chimneys of the South-West Thermal Power Plant in St. Petersburg. (Artem Priakhin/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
The Russian government has allowed several companies to abandon the modernization of over a dozen power plants across the country due to a lack of funding and equipment, Russian news agency Interfax reported on Feb. 14, citing an order published on the governmental website the day prior.
Though Russian officials have largely dismissed the impact of Western sanctions imposed over the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, warning signs about the state of Russia's economy continue to mount coming into 2025.
Tatneft Thermal Power Plant in Nizhnekamensk was removed from the list of modernization projects, and its renovation was postponed until 2027. Avtozavodskaya and Quadra combined heat and power plants, located in Nizhny Novgorod and Voronezh oblasts, respectively, were also excluded.
Reasons for the decision included rising equipment prices, which would threaten the company's financial stability, and the recognition that the project was not profitable due to the cost of turbines, according to the document.
Russia's Territorial Generation Company No. 2 , which supplies Arkhangelsk, Vologda, Kostroma, Novgorod, and Yaroslavl oblasts, was allowed not to renovate its power plants in Kostroma and Yaroslavl due to financing difficulties.
The company originally planned to obtain funds for the projects from Russia's Alfa Bank but was unable to agree on loans, the news agency reported.
The Russian government approved the modernization project's abandonment of the Nevinnomysskaya Condensing Power Plant in Stavropol Krai, the cost of which had reportedky risen by 454%.
Russia's Siberian Generating Company was also relieved of requirements to modernize four power plants in Siberia. The company will have to pay about 2 billion rubles ($22 million) for the projects to be phased out.
The Second Generation Company of the Wholesale Electricity Market, owned by Russian energy giant Gazprom, was also released from its obligations to renovate its power plant in the city of Surgut due to a 16-month delay in equipment deliveries. Billionaire Viktor Vekselberg's T Plus was also allowed not to modernize the plants he owned in Izhevsk and Samara.
The combined effect of sanctions and inflation is beginning to threaten the Russian economy in various sectors, including automotive, aviation, and retail.
This development comes amid a growing push by U.S. President-elect Donald Trump to launch negotiations in Ukraine as soon as possible, though Moscow has shown little interest in peace talks.
Kateryna Hodunova is a News Editor at the Kyiv Independent. She previously worked as a sports journalist in several Ukrainian outlets and was the deputy chief editor at Suspilne Sport. Kateryna covered the 2022 Olympics in Beijing and was included in the Special Mentions list at the AIPS Sport Media Awards. She holds a bachelor's degree in political journalism from Taras Shevchenko University and a master's degree in political science from the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy.
Katie Marie Davies
