"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.
The Kyiv Independent’s contributor Ignatius Ivlev-Yorke spent a day with a mobile team from the State Emergency Service in Nikopol in the south of Ukraine as they responded to relentless drone, artillery, and mortar strikes from Russian forces just across the Dnipro River. Nikopol is located across from the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in the city of Enerhodar.
L-R: Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov, Russian dictator Vladimir Putin, and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan pose for a group photo during the welcoming ceremony of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) on Nov. 23, 2022, in Yerevan, Armenia. Illustrative purposes only. (Contributor/Getty Images)
Armenia is not considering leaving the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), the country's Deputy Foreign Minister Mnatsakan Safarian said on Nov. 23, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported.
The statement comes shortly after Yerevan's decision not to attend today's summit of the Russia-led military coalition in Minsk, attracting criticism from Belarusian and Russian leaders.
The CSTO is an international military alliance consisting of Belarus, Russia, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Armenia.
The summit, chaired by Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko and attended by his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, will reportedly focus on "issues of international and regional security" and Kazakhstan's upcoming presidency.
Despite the snub, Armenia also does not currently plan to discuss the withdrawal of Russian military bases on Armenian territory that host thousands of Russian troops, Safarian said.
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"At the moment, there are no such topics on our agenda," the Armenian official told journalists.
Tensions between Yerevan and Moscow have been mounting as Russia failed to halt Azerbaijan's offensive against Nagorno-Karabakh despite deploying peacekeepers in the region since the last war in 2020.
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan implied that Russia failed to live up to its commitments as an ally, adding that he sees no further use in the continued presence of Russian military bases in the country.
The rift between the two formal allies has been further manifested in Armenia's refusal to participate in CSTO maneuvers in Kyrgyzstan or the coalition's ministerial meetings.
As worries grow that Baku may expand its aggression even to Armenian soil, the South Caucasian country has been looking further west for new allies, securing military aid from France.
Martin Fornusek
