"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.
A plane of the Ukrainian airline SkyUp Airlines at the airport. (SkyUp Airlines / Facebook)
Ukrainian airline SkyUp Airlines has made its first regular flight since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion, flying on the Chisinau-Paris route on April 18, the Ain news outlet reported, citing the company's press service.
Another flight is scheduled for Lisbon, and the company will also operate routes to 11 cities in seven countries, including France, Spain, Cyprus, Greece, Germany, Czechia, and Sweden.
Ukraine closed its skies for commercial flights at the outbreak of Russia's full-scale war. Unable to fly in Ukraine, SkyUp has moved to Chisinau, the closest international airport to the Ukrainian border.
"Today's launch of regular flights from Chisinau is not just a new stage of the company's operations. It is proof that Ukrainian professionals and the company remain part of the world's aviation, despite everything," SkyUp Airlines CEO Dmitry Seroukhov said in a press statement.
"And each new flight is our silent but confident response to the challenges of our times."
The U.S.'s efforts to broker a ceasefire between Kyiv and Moscow have reinvigorated discussions about resuming flights in Ukraine.
Lviv’s Danylo Halytskyi International Airport's general director said earlier in March that flights could restart as early as this spring, according to an optimistic scenario under government consideration.
Director Tetiana Romanovska said that Lviv Airport is in talks with Skyup, as well as Wizz Air, Air Baltic, Turkish Airlines, Austrian Airlines, Lufthansa, and LOT, on the possible resumption of flights.
The Ukrainian government claimed it is "95%" ready to reopen its skies but said discussions about resuming flights without sufficient air defenses would be "impractical" as long as the war is ongoing.
Tim Zadorozhnyy
