"We agreed that a full and unconditional ceasefire must begin on Monday, May 12, for at least 30 days. We jointly demand this from Russia, and we know we are supported in this by the United States," Zelensky said.
Ukrainian media outlet ZN.UA reported on May 10 that their law enforcement sources confirmed an ongoing probe by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau into suspected embezzlement, money laundering and bribery.
Iran is preparing to send Russia Fath-360 short-range ballistic missile launchers, Reuters reported on May 9, citing Western security and regional officials familiar with the matter.
"Ukraine and all allies are ready for a complete unconditional ceasefire on land, in the air, and at sea for at least 30 days, starting as early as Monday," Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha wrote.
U.S. President Donald Trump has acknowledged in private that Russia is difficult to negotiate with because they "want the whole thing," referring to Ukraine, the WSJ reported, citing sources familiar with the comments.
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.
Commemorating the victims of the Volyn Massacre in Lutsk, Ukraine, on July 9, 2023 (Photo by Maxym Marusenko/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Ukraine should become a member of the EU despite historical disagreements with Poland over the mass killings of Poles in Volyn in the 1940s, Speaker of the Polish Parliament Szymon Holownia said on Aug. 31.
Holownia was responding to a question from a journalist from Radio Liberty at the Globsec security conference in Prague, the news agency reported.
"If you ask me whether Ukraine should be a member of the EU, despite certain things, then yes, Ukraine should be a member of the EU. But we will continue to have some disagreements between us and Ukrainians regarding Volyn, about our history. And we will discuss them in the future, but already in the safe ecosystem of the European Union," Holownia said.
The Volyn massacre occurred in 1943, when members of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) massacred tens of thousands of Poles in Nazi-occupied Volyn, a formerly-Polish region that is now part of Ukraine. Thousands of Ukrainians were killed in retaliation.
Holownia's statement contradicts comments from Polish Defense Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz made in July, when the minister said Ukraine would not join the EU until the disagreements are resolved.
Former Polish Foreign Ministry's Undersecretary of State Pawel Jablonski made similar comments last year, stating Ukraine "cannot dream of joining the European Union" without resolving the issue of the exhumation of Volyn massacre victims' remains on Ukrainian territory.
Ukraine opened accession talks with the European bloc last June, but a consensus of all members will be necessary to finalize the entry.
In 2017, Ukraine placed a moratorium on exhuming Volyn victims, in reaction to destruction of UPA memorials in Poland. Ukraine and Poland have not yet reached an agreement on the issue, and the subject continues to be a point of contention between the two allies.
Ukrainian historian Serhii Plokhy, director of the Ukrainian Research Institute at Harvard University, estimates that the number of Polish victims of the massacre varies from 60,000 to 90,000.
The number of Ukrainians killed by Poles in Volyn ranges between 2,000 and 3,000, according to Polish historian Grzegorz Motyka.
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The Kyiv Independent news desk
