"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.
U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (L) and Senator Lindsey Graham (R) attend a briefing on Aug. 12, 2024 in Kyiv, Ukraine. (Vitalii Nosach/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images)
U.S. Senators Lindsey Graham (R) and Richard Blumenthal (D) voiced support for Ukraine's incursion into Russia's Kursk Oblast during a visit to Kyiv on Aug. 12.
As Kyiv's operation continues into its seventh day, Ukraine's Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi reported that Ukrainian forces control abound 1,000 square kilometers in Kursk Oblast. The Kyiv Independent couldn't independently verify this claim.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Ukraine's incursion is "solely a security issue," and the country aims to liberate the border from Russian soldiers to protect Sumy Oblast from Moscow's daily attacks.
"What do I think about Kursk? Bold, brilliant, beautiful. Keep it up," Graham told the reporters in Kyiv.
"Let these people fight. Give them weapons they need to win a war they cannot lose."
According to the senator, Washington should lift all restrictions on the use of American-supplied weapons for strikes on Russian soil. Following Russia's Kharkiv Oblast offensive, the U.S. granted Kyiv limited permission to use certain American arms to strike Russian targets near the country's border.
After the incursion into Kursk Oblast, U.S. National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said that Washington hadn't changed its policy of allowing Ukraine to use American-supplied weapons "to target imminent threats just across the border."
During the meeting with Zelensky, the senators discussed further military support for Ukraine, including the provision of air defense systems and missiles, the President's Office said.
Russian official said that Ukraine is in control of 28 settlements in Kursk Oblast as of Aug. 12, claiming that the incursion was up to 12 kilometers deep along a 40 kilometer front.
Although reinforcements sent by Moscow have arrived on the battlefield, Ukraine has reportedly continued to advance farther into Kursk Oblast. Russian authorities have been forced to announce widening civilian evacuation measures in a number of districts bordering Ukraine.
Kateryna Denisova
