Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping hailed their countries' relationship on May 8, vowing to increase cooperation in all areas, including military ties.
"There is Turkey, which maintains channels of communication. And then, above all, there is the People's Republic of China, which, more than anyone else, has the means to make (Russian President Vladimir) Putin come to the negotiating table and soften his demands," Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said on May 8.
The United States will be ready to "walk away" from the negotiating table if it does not see Russia making progress in negotiation to end the war, U.S. Vice President JD Vance told Fox News on May 8.
Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico arrived in Moscow on May 9 to celebrate Victory Day, commemorating the 80th anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II.
US President Donald Trump on May 8 called for a "30-day unconditional ceasefire" between Ukraine and Russia. Writing on Truth Social, Trump expressed his hope for "an acceptable ceasefire," with both countries "held accountable for respecting the sanctity of... direct negotiations."
President Volodymyr Zelensky had a "constructive" phone call with United States President Donald Trump on May 8, discussing the war, continued pressure on Russia, and a potential ceasefire.
The survey, conducted between April 24 and May 4, shows that 56.9% of respondents would not be willing to compromise on either territorial integrity or Ukraine’s pro-Western direction in any potential talks with Moscow.
U.S. Cardinal Robert Prevost was elected the new pope and leader of the Roman Catholic Church on Thursday, taking the name Pope Leo XIV, a senior cardinal announced on May 8 to crowds gathered in St. Peter’s Square, according to Vatican News.
The shooting occurred around 3:22 p.m. local time in Sofiivska Borshchahivka, a residential area in Bucha district, according to the Kyiv regional police.
Ukraine's government introduced price regulations for a number of food products, including sugar, on Jan. 12, 2022. (Jcomp / Freepik)
On Jan. 12, the Cabinet of Ministers announced it would manually regulate prices for a number of essential food items amid record inflation in the past three years.
The list includes sugar, wheat flour, buckwheat, pasta, milk, butter, chicken eggs, and poultry.
Government officials have set a maximum permitted trade margin of 10% between prices charged by retail grocery stores and wholesale rates.
High inflation in 2021 was fuelled by the economic crisis caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. Therefore, price controls will remain in force until the number of Covid-19 cases in the country drops sharply and the adaptive quarantine regime, which has been in place since March 2020, ends.
In mid-December, the government extended the quarantine restrictions until March 31.
This is the second time in the last month that the state has introduced price regulation. On Dec. 30, the Cabinet of Ministers did so for bread.
According to the State Statistics Service, prices for the products now under regulation rose at least 9% since November.
The worst situation was with sugar prices, which have doubled in the last year due to high gas costs and growing demand on world markets. It is now difficult to find a one-kilogram pack of sugar on shelves in Ukrainian supermarkets for less than $1.
According to Dmytro Solomchuk, a lawmaker with the ruling Servant of the People party, the retail price for buckwheat, a staple food for many Ukrainians, increased by 50-70% to $2.6 per kilogram, while wholesale prices did not go up much, remaining around $1.5 per kilogram.
“Our country is agricultural. It’s not right to speculate on socially important products,” Solomchuk said on Jan. 10.
At the same time, industry experts have serious doubts about the effectiveness of the new price controls.
According to Andriy Yarmak, investment officer at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, such measures might have “either zero impact, or a negative impact on the market.”
“Often (it) pushes market prices higher up than they would have been otherwise,” Yarmak told the Kyiv Independent.
He believes that the new limits will make it less attractive for both producers and retailers to supply products.
As a result, in the long run this could lead to a drop in production and a reduction in tax revenues.
“What the government is doing now is shooting itself in the foot,” Yarmak said.
Natalia Datskevych is a business reporter at the Kyiv Independent. Before joining the team, she worked as business reporter for the Kyiv Post. She studied economic theory at Kyiv National Economic University and holds a Ph.D in economic science.
