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.
The building of the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) on April 10, 2022. (Natalia Synenko/ Getty Images)
The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) announced on May 3 that it was implementing the largest set of currency liberalization measures since the beginning of the full-scale war.
The measures are aimed at decreasing restrictions on businesses and currency controls. Ukraine implemented strict controls over its currency and tightly regulated foreign exchanges in 2022, hoping to stave off a collapse of the hryvnia.
"This move, together with other measures by the NBU, should allow Ukrainian businesses to 'breathe to their full potential' and help attract private capital to recover the economy," said NBU Governor Andriy Pyshnyy.
In a statement posted on the NBU website, the bank wrote that most of the measures would come into force on May 4.
The package consisted of the following six measures:
the removal of all currency restrictions on the import of goods and services
the possibility for businesses to repatriate new dividends
the ability to transfer funds abroad for the purpose of renting or leasing
the easing of restrictions on the repayment of new external loan
the ability to repay interest on old external loans
the relaxing of restrictions on the transfer of foreign currency from representative offices to their parent companies
The NBU wrote that the measures would lead to "a gradual increase in export revenue to Ukraine" and help Ukrainian businesses "to enter new markets, including those from which companies from (Russia) are displaced due to sanctions."
Following an almost 30% drop in Ukraine's GDP after the full-scale invasion, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) predicted in April that the GDP would grow by 3.2% in 2024 and possibly up to 6.5% in 2025.
Nate Ostiller is a former News Editor at the Kyiv Independent. He works on special projects as a researcher and writer for The Red Line Podcast, covering Eastern Europe and Eurasia, and focused primarily on digital misinformation, memory politics, and ethnic conflict. Nate has a Master’s degree in Russian and Eurasian Studies from the University of Glasgow, and spent two years studying abroad at Kyiv-Mohyla Academy in Ukraine. Originally from the USA, he is currently based in Tbilisi, Georgia.
Andriy Pyshnyy
