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.
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.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) stands next to Friedrich Merz, CDU/CSU candidate for chancellor and CDU federal chairman, ahead of the TV duel between ARD and ZDF on Feb. 9, 2025, in Berlin, Germany. (Michael Kappeler - Pool/Getty Images)
German Chancellor Olaf Schlolz and his chief challenger in the upcoming elections, Friedrich Merz, agreed during a television debate on Feb. 9 that Berlin must continue supporting Ukraine and that Russia's war must end as soon as possible.
Polls show Merz's conservative CDU/CSU alliance as a clear favorite for the Feb. 23 snap elections. The vote was called after Social Democrat (SPD) Scholz's ruling coalition lost the parliamentary majority with the exit of the Free Democratic Party (FDP).
During the debate, Merz said that the war "could have ended sooner if Ukraine had been supported more decisively and with less hesitation," reiterating his earlier position that Germany should provide Kyiv with long-range Taurus missiles.
Scholz, whose government has become the second-largest military donor to Ukraine since the outbreak of the full-scale war, has long refused to supply the long-range cruise missiles, fearing it could draw Germany into the conflict.
Merz called for a united strategy between Europe and the U.S. allies on the Russia-Ukraine war and warned against excluding Ukraine from the conversation. According to the German conservative leader, it is also important to see what Washington's next steps will be.
The German chancellor, in turn, stressed the need to help Ukraine build up a powerful army, reminding the assistance his government had already provided.
"We must help Ukraine have a strong army. Because its economy will not be able to finance an army of the size it needs for defense," Scholz said.
Berlin has supplied Kyiv with $11 billion in military assistance between February 2022 and October 2024, ranking below only the U.S., according to the Kiel Institute for the World Economy. The provided hardware included Leopard 1 and 2 tanks, artillery, armored vehicles, Patriot, IRIS-T, and Gepard air defenses, and more.
As Ukraine's leading European backer, Germany is expected to play a key role in the pro-Kyiv coalition amid the uncertain future of U.S. support under Donald Trump's administration.
Martin Fornusek is a news editor at the Kyiv Independent. He has previously worked as a news content editor at the media company Newsmatics and is a contributor to Euromaidan Press. He was also volunteering as an editor and translator at the Czech-language version of Ukraïner. Martin studied at Masaryk University in Brno, Czechia, holding a bachelor's degree in security studies and history and a master's degree in conflict and democracy studies.
Olena Goncharova
