"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.
"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.
A man prints banknotes of Ukraine's national currency, the hryvnia, at a National Bank of Ukraine facility in Kyiv on Oct. 1, 2019. The sale of Ukrainian bonds fell by up to 4.6% on Jan. 17 amid Russia's threat at Ukraine's borders. . (Yelyzaveta Serhiienko/ Press office NBU)
Ukrainian government bonds fell by up to 4.6% on Jan. 17, as Russia continued to mass troops on Ukraine’s border, fuelling fears of a large-scale invasion.
Sovereign bond yields are often used as an indicator of foreign investor confidence in a country’s economy: the higher the yield, the more risky the asset.
The yield on bonds due to mature (pay out interest) in September 2022 soared to 26.55% at the Jan. 17 auction, while it stood at 19.67% on Jan. 14.
However, Hlib Vyshlinsky, the head of the Center for Economic Strategy, told the Kyiv Independent on Jan. 18 that this tendency would only be a problem for Ukraine’s economy if it lasts.
According to him, there’s no need to panic if it’s a short-term fluctuation.
However, if such high yields stay at the same level or go up over the next month, it could hurt the government’s ability to finance the budget deficit and force it to cut social spending.
“It will also result in a delay in the planned investment projects because of high military risks, and economic growth in this period,” Vyshlinsky said.
Ukrainian debt has been a popular purchase for foreign fund managers in recent years, leaving the bonds vulnerable to a mass sell-off amid the recent escalation of tensions with Russia.
Ukrainian bond values dropped after investors started selling last week due to an increasing perceived risk of a full-scale invasion by Russia.
“The market has to price in some kind of probability of Russia invading,” Viktor Szabo, a director at investment fund Abrdn, told Euronews on Jan. 17.
Bond spreads are differences between the yields of various bonds: a high spread shows high country risk. Ukraine’s are currently at the same level as in March 2020, when the Covid-19 pandemic struck.
Spreads are also at similar levels to those seen in spring 2014, when Russia invaded and then annexed Crimea, but are still not quite at the level of early 2015, when Ukraine nearly defaulted.
The J.P. Morgan index on emerging markets put Ukraine in the same category as Venezuela and Lebanon, indicating distressed bonds, Reuters reported.
On Jan. 13, the hryvnia hit its weakest level against the dollar since April after a 0.5% fall, according to the Financial Times.
At the same time, Russia’s currency, bonds, and stocks have also taken a hit as tensions between the two countries showed no sign of easing. The Russian rouble fell nearly 3% to hit a nine-month low of 76.5 roubles to the dollar, following a week of diplomatic talks between Russia and the West which yielded no resolution but brought further threats from Moscow.
Alexander Query is a reporter at the Kyiv Independent. He is the former business editor at the Kyiv Post. He worked as a TV correspondent and an anchorman at UATV in Ukraine, and received a BA in modern literature from La Sorbonne, in Paris.
