"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.
Weapons lie on the ground during the all-female training in firearms in Kyiv, Ukraine, on July 6, 2024. (Oksana Parafeniuk / The Kyiv Independent)
The U.K. has begun floating plans to European allies to establish a joint European military fund for the purchase of military equipment and weaponry as a means to rearm Europe, the Financial Times (FT) reported on April 2.
The "non-paper" proposal, which was crafted by U.K. Treasury officials and seen by FT, began circulating among European allies last week with plans to "stockpile" weaponry, as European officials fear Russia may become emboldened to attack another European country by the end of the decade.
European officials have warned that Europe faces critical arms shortages needed for the defense of the continent, as Russia continues to ramp up its arm production. Russia’s military expenditure last year surpassed Europe's spending with Russia dishing out $462 billion, approximately $5 billion more than that of Europe.
A newly established supranational institution would be intended to serve a "coalition of the willing" that could purchase weapons at favourable rates.
“A number of models of supranational institution may support increasing fiscal capacity for defence spending,” the paper read, according to FT. "The institution would be designed to be classified to the rest of the world sector in the national accounts and the equipment purchased by the institution would be recorded on its own balance sheet and not the contributing countries."
The proposal notes countries could more effectively purchase a long list of equipment and weaponry, including spare parts for tanks and aircraft, artillery shells, air defence missiles, explosives, and logistics aircraft.
The size of the fund was not specified in the proposal.
The draft proposal notes that it does not represent official policy of Prime Minister Keir Starmer's government, and a government spokesperson told FT that it did not comment on "leaks."
The U.K. and France have taken a lead in presenting a united European front on military support for Ukraine, proposing a "coalition of the willing" to send peacekeepers to Ukraine, if a ceasefire is reached.
Dmytro Basmat is a senior news editor for The Kyiv Independent. He previously worked in Canadian politics as a communications lead and spokesperson for a national political party, and as a communications assistant for a Canadian Member of Parliament. Basmat has a Master's degree in Political Management from Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada, and a Bachelor of Arts in Politics and Governance from Toronto Metropolitan University.
Tim Zadorozhnyy
