Speaking at a press conference in Kyiv on May 10, President Volodymyr Zelensky rebuked the idea of a demilitarized zone in the war and emphasized the importance of first securing a ceasefire.
"We agreed that a full and unconditional ceasefire must begin on Monday, May 12, for at least 30 days. We jointly demand this from Russia, and we know we are supported in this by the United States," Zelensky said.
Ukrainian media outlet ZN.UA reported on May 10 that their law enforcement sources confirmed an ongoing probe by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau into suspected embezzlement, money laundering and bribery.
Iran is preparing to send Russia Fath-360 short-range ballistic missile launchers, Reuters reported on May 9, citing Western security and regional officials familiar with the matter.
"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."
George Washington Statue in downtown Boston with skyline in Public Market Park, Massachusetts. (Visions of America / Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
A group of Ukrainian lawmakers has proposed erecting a monument in Kyiv to George Washington, the first president of the United States.
A draft resolution for the monument was published on the website of Ukraine’s parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, on March 10, under the number 3066. While the full text of the resolution has not been disclosed, it has already been submitted for consideration by parliamentary leadership.
The initiative was put forward by lawmakers from the ruling Servant of the People party—Oleksandr Kovalchuk, Mariia Mezentseva-Fedorenko, Yevheniia Kravchuk, and Halyna Yanchenko—as well as independent MP Mykola Tyshchenko, who was expelled from President Volodymyr Zelensky's party in 2023.
In an interview with the YouTube channel Superposition, Yanchenko emphasized the importance of strengthening ties between Ukraine and the United States rather than damaging them. She suggested that the monument could serve as a symbolic gesture of goodwill.
Potential locations for the statue include sites where monuments to Soviet military figures Mykola Vatutin, a Soviet commander during World War II, and Mykola Shchors, a Bolshevik commander during the Russian Civil War, were previously dismantled.
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.
Alisa Yurchenko
