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.
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.
Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine's president, during a news conference with Olaf Scholz, Germany's chancellor at the Ukraine Recovery Conference in Berlin, Germany, on June 11, 2024. (Krisztian Bocsi/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
President Volodymyr Zelensky said that the meeting between Ukrainian and U.S. delegations in Saudi Arabia was "constructive and beneficial," with progress made on key issues, in his evening address on March 23.
"Our team is working quite constructively, and the discussion has been very beneficial. The work of the delegations is ongoing," Zelensky said.
Zelensky’s Chief of Staff, Andriy Yermak, echoed this sentiment, adding that the talks were focused and helpful for advancing Ukraine's strategic goals.
Defense Minister Rustem Umerov, who led the Ukrainian delegation, said the discussions included military, diplomatic, and energy representatives. "The conversation was constructive and meaningful — we discussed key issues, including in the energy sector," Umerov wrote on Facebook.
Zelensky also called on the international community to increase pressure on Russia to achieve a ceasefire.
"Since March 11, there has been a proposal for an unconditional ceasefire, which would have stopped such attacks. But it is Russia that continues all of this. Without pressure on Russia, Moscow will continue to treat true diplomacy with contempt and destroy lives," Zelensky said.
"Whatever we are discussing with our partners right now, Putin must be forced to issue a real order to stop the strikes: whoever started this war must be the one to end it," he added.
Previously, Zelensky announced that Ukrainian and American delegations would hold talks in Riyadh on March 24. U.S. negotiators planned to hold separate meetings with Ukrainian and Russian delegates that day, in a format Special Envoy Keith Kellog described as "shuttle diplomacy."
Sonya Bandouil is a North American news editor for The Kyiv Independent. She previously worked in the fields of cybersecurity and translating, and she also edited for various journals in NYC.
Sonya has a Master’s degree in Global Affairs from New York University, and a Bachelor’s degree in Music from the University of Houston, in Texas.
Lucy Pakhnyuk
