"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.
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.
Protesters gather outside of USAID headquarters on Feb. 3, 2025 in Washington, D.C. (Kayla Bartkowski / Getty Images)
The U.S. has officially canceled 83% of U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) programs, with the roughly 1,000 remaining contracts to be administered by the State Department, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on March 10.
The decision to cancel 5,200 USAID contracts comes after a six-week review of the U.S.'s top foreign aid agency, which the Trump administration accused of waste, fraud, and pushing a "liberal agenda."
Since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, USAID has provided $2.6 billion in humanitarian aid, $5 billion in development assistance, and more than $30 billion in direct budget support to Kyiv.
The agency has funded school reconstruction, bomb shelters, critical energy repairs, and civil society initiatives.
Elon Musk, U.S. President Donald Trump's ally who supposedly oversees the new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), has led the charge against USAID, laying off staff and attacking the agency in public, often making baseless or false claims about its work.
Rubio thanked DOGE for "this overdue and historic reform," claiming that the aborted contracts have "spent tens of billions of dollars in ways that did not serve, (and in some cases even harmed), the core national interests of the United States." He did not provide any examples of how USAID programs endangered U.S. interests.
The cuts are nevertheless smaller than indicated by a statement from the Trump administration last month, which talked about slashing 90% of all contracts.
USAID cuts mark a significant realignment of U.S. foreign policy, which saw the Trump administration adopt increasingly hostile rhetoric toward Ukraine and other partners while seeking to renew ties with Moscow.
The mass cancelation of USAID contracts also threatens various Ukrainian organizations and projects across multiple sectors, including energy, education, media, and humanitarian support.
Abbey Fenbert
