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.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and President Volodymyr Zelensky take part in a signing ceremony marking a 100-year partnership at Mariinskyi Palace in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Jan. 16, 2025. (Maxym Marusenko/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
The U.K. transferred 752 million pounds ($990 million) to Ukraine on April 14 under a G7 loan covered by Russian assets to buy air defense and artillery, the British government announced.
The U.K. has pledged to lend Ukraine 2.26 billion pounds ($2.9 billion) in three equal installments as part of the G7's Extraordinary Revenue Acceleration scheme, worth $50 billion in total.
This installment is the second one. Ukraine received the first part of the loan from the U.K. on March 6, 2025. The final part will be paid in 2026.
"The world is changing before our eyes, reshaped by global instability, including Russian aggression in Ukraine," British Finance Minister Rachel Reeves said.
At the onset of the full-scale war in 2022, the G7 countries immobilized some $300 billion in Russian sovereign assets. The $50 billion loan, shouldered mainly by the U.S. and the EU, will be funneled to Ukraine's defense needs and recovery and repaid by proceeds from the frozen assets.
Kateryna Hodunova is a News Editor at the Kyiv Independent. She previously worked as a sports journalist in several Ukrainian outlets and was the deputy chief editor at Suspilne Sport. Kateryna covered the 2022 Olympics in Beijing and was included in the Special Mentions list at the AIPS Sport Media Awards. She holds a bachelor's degree in political journalism from Taras Shevchenko University and a master's degree in political science from the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy.
Francis Farrell
