"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.
U.S. commentator Tucker Carlson (L) chats with Donald Trump Jr. (C) and US TV news personality Kimberly Guilfoyle (R) during the first day of the 2024 Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, July 15, 2024. (Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images)
U.S. President Donald Trump's son, Donald Jr., news host Tucker Carlson, Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, and special envoy Steve Witkoff were involved in backchannel talks with President Volodymyr Zelensky's political rivals, Politico reported on March 18, citing undisclosed sources.
Politico reported back on March 6 that members of Trump's team led secret discussions with ex-President Petro Poroshenko's allies and former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko as the Trump administration grew displeased with Zelensky.
These backchannel talks were part of an effort to make Zelensky more compliant and show that the U.S. has other potential partners in Ukraine, Politico reported.
The Kyiv Independent could not verify the claims.
Witkoff is the only person named by three Ukrainian lawmakers and a Republican foreign policy expert for Politico who holds an official position in Trump's team. Formally a special envoy for the Middle East, Witkoff has been involved in U.S. talks with both Russia and Ukraine.
Trump Jr., the U.S. president's eldest son and executive vice president of the Trump Organization, has also often lashed out against U.S. support for Kyiv on social media.
Kushner is a businessman and investor who served as Trump's advisor during his first administration and is married to the president's daughter, Ivanka Trump.
According to the Politico sources, U.S. officials are convinced that Zelensky would lose elections if it were held today, despite numerous polls saying otherwise.
Trump has repeatedly called for elections in Ukraine and, at one point, dubbed Zelensky a "dictator without elections" before seemingly walking back on that statement.
These comments echo the Kremlin's propaganda about Zelensky's supposed illegitimacy. The Ukrainian Constitution does not permit elections under martial law, which was instituted at the start of Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022.
Recent opinion polls give Poroshenko and Tymoshenko slim chances of beating Zelensky if the vote was held today. One poll from February said that 44% of Ukrainians would vote for Zelensky in the first round, the highest number of all potential candidates.
The incumbent president was followed by ex-Commander-in-Chief Valerii Zaluzhnyi with 21%, Poroshenko with 10%, and Tymoshenko with 6%.
Both Poroshenko and Tymoshenko acknowledged only public contacts with foreign partners, including the U.S., and rejected calls for holding elections during the war.
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.
Tim Zadorozhnyy
