"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.
The building of the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) on April 10, 2022. (Natalia Synenko/ Getty Images)
Ukraine's National Bank (NBU) announced on Jan. 23 that it will raise the key policy rate from 13.5% to 14.5% per annum starting from Jan. 24.
The Ukrainian economy was heavily hit by Russia's full-scale war. At the start of the invasion, inflation skyrocketed to 26.6% in 2022 from 10.0% in 2021. It subsided the following year but in 2024, the inflation again accelerated to 12%, exceeding NBU's forecast.
"In order to maintain the stability of the foreign exchange market, keep expectations under control, and gradually bring inflation to the 5% target on the policy horizon, the NBU Board decided to raise the key policy rate by 1% to 14.5%," chairman Andrii Pyshnyi said in a press briefing.
The NBU raised its key policy rate to 10% in January 2022. It had remained unchanged since the beginning of the all-out war, but on June 3, 2022, the rate grew from 10% to 25%.
For over a year, it remained at the same level, dropping to 22% in July 2023 and following a gradual decline. In December 2024, the NBU raised the key policy rate from 13% to 13.5% in response to inflationary developments.
According to Pyshnyi, the NBU will likely continue "tightening interest rate policy if signs of sustained inflationary pressure and the threat of imbalance in inflation expectations persist."
Inflation is likely to continue rising in the first months of 2025, peaking in the second quarter and then starting to decline in the middle of the year. According to the NBU's forecast, inflation will slow to 8.4% by the end of 2025 and to 5% in 2026.
"This will be supported by the NBU's interest rate and exchange rate policies, as well as by higher harvests, an improvement in the energy sector, a reduction in the fiscal deficit, and moderate external price pressure," NBU's statement read.
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.
Tim Zadorozhnyy
