"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.
Illustrative purposes only: Solar panels are seen destroyed by Russian shelling in the front-line village of Novovorontsovka, Kherson Oblast, on June 23, 2022. (Andrii Gorb)
Russian forces carried out a targeted attack on a solar power plant in Ukraine's rear for the first time since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, Volodymyr Kudrytskyi, the head of Ukraine's state grid operator Ukrenergo, said at a press conference on April 4.
"Yesterday (on April 3), the enemy targeted a solar power plant. This is the first case, at least in my memory, of a targeted attack on a renewable energy facility," Kudrytskyi said, without disclosing the location of the solar power plant.
Kudrytskyi said that there is no acute shortage in the power system, as total electricity consumption is falling due to the warm weather. There is a seasonal increase in production at solar power plants, according to Kudrytskyi.
Russia's March 22 strike destroyed the Zmiiv Thermal Power Plant, which is among the largest in Kharkiv Oblast, according to the state-owned energy company Centrenergo.
Recent attacks also damaged all power units of the Burshtyn Thermal Power Plant in Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast and the Ladyzhyn Thermal Power Plant in Vinnytsia Oblast.
The Hydroelectric Power Station-2 (HPS-2), one of the two stations of the latter, is in critical condition following the attack. The dam itself suffered damage as well, but officials said that there was no risk of a breach.
Kateryna Denisova works as a News Editor at the Kyiv Independent. She previously worked as a news editor at the NV media outlet for four years, covering mainly Ukrainian and international politics. Kateryna holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Taras Shevchenko University of Kyiv. She also was a fellow at journalism schools in the Czech Republic and Germany.
Martin Fornusek
