"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.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni attends an EU-Western Balkans Summit meeting in the Europa, the EU Council headquarters on Dec. 18, 2024 in Brussels, Belgium. (Thierry Monasse/Getty Images)
Russia’s threat to Europe extends beyond defense to illegal immigration and cybersecurity, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said on Dec. 22 during an international meeting in Finland.
"It's about our democracy, it's about influencing our public opinion, it's about what happens in Africa, it's about raw materials, it's about the instrumentalization of migration. We need to know it's a very wide idea of security," Meloni was quoted as saying by Reuters.
Russia and Belarus have been orchestrating an influx of migrants since 2021, letting thousands of asylum seekers to the European Union’s eastern borders with a pledge of safe entry into the EU.
In November 2021, Belarusian troops escorted thousands of asylum seekers to the Polish border, cutting through the wire fence to allow refugees to cross. Most of them were violently pushed back by Polish border guards who set up a no-access zone at the border for nine months.
Italy's right-wing prime minister urged the EU to view migration as a distributive problem as well as a security one.
"Security also means critical infrastructure, it means artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, raw materials, supply chains. It means a new and more effective foreign and cooperation policy, it means migration," Meloni said.
Meloni cautioned against complacency in the EU, adding that even after Russia’s war in Ukraine ends, its security challenge will not go away.
"We have to understand the threat is much wider than we imagine," Meloni said.
Tensions between Europe and Moscow have surged after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The EU imposed 15 packages of sanctions against Russia, and most of its members provided military support to Kyiv.
In turn, Russia has been accused of carrying out sabotage operations and hybrid attacks across the continent to disrupt defense assistance to Ukraine and spread chaos and unrest.
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.
The Kyiv Independent news desk
