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.
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.
Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico during an interview with Russian propagandist Olga Skabeyeva. Screenshot from a video posted on Skabeyeva's Telegram on Oct. 30, 2024.
Slovakia's Prime Minister Robert Fico gave an online interview to chief Russian propagandist Olga Skabeyeva, with parts published on Skabeyeva's Telegram channel on Oct. 30.
Fico is known for inflammatory statements on Ukraine and the war that often echo Moscow's talking points. He has repeatedly criticized military aid for Ukraine and called for restoring relations with Russia after the war.
Talking to the propagandist sanctioned by several Western countries, the prime minister of a NATO and EU member country discussed several topics, including the Nord Stream pipeline explosions and the supposed Western fatigue over the support of Ukraine. Fico also reiterated his desire to visit Moscow for the May 9 Victory Day celebrations.
Based on the snippets published on Skabeyeva's channel, Fico claimed that in April 2022, real agreements were on the table that could immediately end the war.
The unsuccessful talks in 2022 held in Belarus and Turkey were the only occasion when Ukraine and Russia took part in direct negotiations. A resulting draft treaty, which reportedly precluded Ukraine from joining NATO and postponed the matter of occupied territories, was never signed due to disagreement on several key points and a shifting tide on the battlefield.
"And today we all look at this war, and I feel, excuse the frankness, we look away and say: Here are your weapons, here is your money, fight, just don't bore us with it, we just don't want to have anything to do with it anymore, with this war," the Slovak prime minister said.
Fico expressed skepticism over earlier reports that the Nord Stream pipeline was blown up by Ukrainian officers, calling the allegation "nonsense." He also said it was his personal duty to visit Moscow on the 80th anniversary, marking the end of the Second World War.
German investigators reportedly linked the Nord Stream explosions in September 2022 to a group of Ukrainian nationals, implicating even some top ex-officials like former Commander-in-Chief Valerii Zaluzhnyi. Kyiv has denied any involvement, pointing to Russia as the culprit instead.
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Sonya Bandouil
