"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.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (R) welcomes Kenyan President William Ruto (R) prior to their meeting as part of Ukraine's peace summit near Lucerne, Switzerland, on June 15, 2024. (Alessandro Della Valle / Pool / AFP)
President Volodymyr Zelensky met with Argentine President Javier Milei and Kenyan President William Ruto on the sidelines of Ukraine's global peace summit in Switzerland on June 15.
Officials from over 100 foreign governments and international organizations gathered in Lucerne, Switzerland for a two-day summit focused on Zelensky's peace formula, a 10-point plan outlining Kyiv's conditions for an end to Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine.
Zelensky and Milei met during the summit to discuss the peace formula, ongoing bilateral cooperation, and trade, the president said via Telegram.
"We appreciate the broad presence of Latin American countries at the summit," Zelensky said.
Zelensky also thanked Argentina for recently joining the international coalition for the return of Ukrainian children kidnapped by Russia during the war.
Milei is reportedly planning to visit Kyiv later this month in what would be the first visit of a South American leader to Ukraine since the start of the full-scale war.
Kenya's President William Ruto also met with Zelensky on the sidelines of the peace summit on June 15. The leaders discussed food security and the development of Ukrainian-Kenyan cooperation in agricultural exports.
The two countries are considering "Kenya's possible participation in the creation of hubs for Ukrainian grain in African ports," Zelensky said.
Russia's attacks against Ukraine's port and grain infrastructure following its withdrawal from the Black Sea grain deal have posed serious risks to global food security, disproportionately impacting African nations.
Abbey Fenbert is a senior news editor at the Kyiv Independent. She is a freelance writer, editor, and playwright with an MFA from Boston University. Abbey served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Ukraine from 2008-2011.
Martin Fornusek
