"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.
Workers go about their job at a granite mine on February 26, 2025 in Zhytomyr Oblast. Despite the ongoing war, many mining companies across the country have continued their operations, extracting resources such as titanium, graphite, and beryllium. (Kostiantyn Liberov / Libkos / Getty Images)
Ukraine will send a delegation to Washington this week to begin talks on a new draft agreement that would grant the U.S. access to Ukraine's mineral resources, Economy Minister Yuliia Svyrydenko told the Associated Press.
The Ukrainian delegation will consist of representatives from the economy, foreign affairs, justice, and finance ministries. Svyrydenko said that the new U.S. proposal still includes plans for a fund or joint investment between the two nations.
The long-running negotiation, which has already strained ties between Kyiv and Washington, follows an attempt to finalize a framework agreement earlier this year.
Those plans were disrupted after a heated Oval Office meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance, and President Volodymyr Zelensky. Critics later slammed the leaked draft for potentially undermining Ukraine's control over its natural resources, including not just rare-earth minerals but also gas and oil.
Ukraine's mineral wealth includes strategically important resources such as titanium, lithium, and uranium, all crucial for U.S. industries like aerospace and nuclear power. However, the new draft agreement, sent by the U.S. after weeks of silence, goes beyond the original framework. It is still unclear why the U.S. opted to bypass the previous framework agreement in favor of a more comprehensive deal, which could require ratification by Ukraine’s parliament.
"What we have now is a document that reflects the position of the U.S. Treasury legal team,” Svyrydenko said on the details of the draft, noting that it represents only one side's position at this stage. "This is not a final version, it’s not a joint position." Ukraine plans to assemble a technical team to define its red lines and core principles ahead of talks with the U.S. in Washington next week.
The latest draft also includes more specifics on the proposed fund’s structure, though it remains unclear how much control Ukraine will retain.
Analysts who reviewed the leaked document suggest Kyiv's role in managing the fund would be minimal, a point Ukraine hopes to address during negotiations. The earlier framework draft proposed a jointly managed fund to support Ukraine’s post-war reconstruction, with both nations contributing revenues from key national assets, including minerals and hydrocarbons.
Svyrydenko emphasized to the Associated Press that Ukraine is focused on ensuring the final agreement aligns with its strategic interests: "I believe the work on the previous memorandum showed that both teams are capable of reaching these goals and agreeing on terms acceptable to both sides."
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.
Dominic Culverwell
