The visit marks Merz’s first trip to Ukraine, and the first time all four leaders have travelled there together.
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.
"As in the past, it is now for Russia to show its willingness to achieve peace," the EU's statement reads.
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."
The number includes 1,310 casualties that Russian forces suffered over the past day.
"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.
Russian tanker fuel spill could reach Ukraine's coast, Navy warns

The fuel spilled into the Black Sea by two Russian tankers last month could reach Ukraine's southern coast in the Mykolaiv and Odesa oblasts, Navy spokesperson Dmytro Pletenchuk said on air on Jan. 9.
Volgoneft 212 and Volgoneft 239 suffered severe damage in the Kerch Strait during a storm on Dec. 15, 2024. Each vessel reportedly carried 4,000 tons of fuel, which began leaking into the Black Sea.
"The current direction indicates that, most likely, the oil fuel can reach our Odesa and Mykolaiv oblasts' coasts," Pletenchuk said on national television.
Greenpeace Ukraine warned the spill may cause "significant" environmental damage and foul the shoreline if the fuel is driven ashore.
The spokesperson noted that Russian civilian vessels continue to sail through the Kerch Strait since "without oil exports and subsequent profits, it will be even more difficult for them to wage this war."
Days after the spill, the oil fuel washed ashore in Russia's Krasnodar Krai and the Russian-occupied Crimea. Krasnodar Krai residents shared footage of birds injured by the spill and unable to fly.
Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine has caused massive environmental damage, including the destruction of the Nova Kakhovka Dam and subsequent flooding, widespread forest fires, and the devastation of wide stretches of farmland.
In October 2024, the Kyiv School of Economics Institute warned that Russia's "shadow fleet" of old and poorly insured tankers poses significant environmental risks, as these often uninsured and aging vessels increase the danger of oil spills.

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