"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.
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.
Protesters gather outside of USAID headquarters on Feb. 3, 2025 in Washington, D.C. (Kayla Bartkowski / Getty Images)
The State Department formally notified Congress on March 28 that it is dismantling the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and transferring some of its functions under its jurisdiction.
According to the notification, the agency, which has been central to U.S. foreign aid efforts, will be disbanded by July 1.
The move effectively ends USAID, a multibillion-dollar agency tasked with fighting global poverty and hunger. The decision to shutter an agency created by Congress without legislative input is expected to spark legal challenges. Critics warn that eliminating USAID could undermine humanitarian efforts, while the Trump administration has accused the agency of mismanaging taxpayer funds and supporting overseas programs that do not align with U.S. interests.
Since taking office, the Trump administration has systematically gutted USAID, halting nearly all foreign aid programs pending review, firing thousands of employees, and canceling billions of dollars in aid contracts.
Nearly all of the remaining 900 employees are being terminated. The cuts have triggered lawsuits from aid groups and staff members, some of whom were forced to return home from overseas assignments without reimbursement.
USAID was a primary target of Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which is implementing deep cuts across federal agencies. In a message to USAID employees obtained by CNN, Jeremy Lewin, a DOGE liaison and senior USAID official, defended the decision, saying it would "significantly enhance efficiency, accountability, uniformity, and strategic impact" in foreign aid efforts. He confirmed that most non-statutory positions at USAID will be eliminated, with employees receiving reduction-in-force notices starting March 28.
Some USAID programs, including humanitarian assistance, global health efforts, strategic investment, and limited national security projects, will be absorbed by the State Department’s regional bureaus, according to the congressional notification.
However, other functions deemed redundant will be cut entirely. The restructuring has faced significant pushback from career officials, with one senior USAID official placed on leave after blaming Trump appointees for crippling the government’s ability to carry out life-saving humanitarian missions.
Olena Goncharova is the Head of North America desk at The Kyiv Independent, where she has previously worked as a development manager and Canadian correspondent. She first joined the Kyiv Post, Ukraine's oldest English-language newspaper, as a staff writer in January 2012 and became the newspaper’s Canadian correspondent in June 2018. She is based in Edmonton, Alberta. Olena has a master’s degree in publishing and editing from the Institute of Journalism in Taras Shevchenko National University in Kyiv. Olena was a 2016 Alfred Friendly Press Partners fellow who worked for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette for six months. The program is administered by the University of Missouri School of Journalism in Columbia.
Daria Shulzhenko
