(Updated: )
The visit marks Merz’s first trip to Ukraine, and the first time all four leaders have travelled there together.
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Saturday, May 10
A notice about the airspace closure was published on the U.S. Defense Department's NOTAM (Notice to Airmen) website on May 10, as cited by Ukrainian defense news outlet Militarnyi.
"As in the past, it is now for Russia to show its willingness to achieve peace," the EU's statement reads.
(Updated: )Resistance
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."
The number includes 1,310 casualties that Russian forces suffered over the past day.
"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.
Saturday, May 10
"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.
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European Commission: Russia to face consequences if it moves nuclear weapons to Belarus
• 2 min read
Peter Stano, the spokesperson for the European Commission on foreign policy issues, said that the European Union would react if Russia deployed its tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus as announced by Moscow earlier, according to the European Pravda media outlet.
Stano did not specify what actions would be taken.
“We are ready for all scenarios, and we are reviewing our readiness as the events unfold," he said, adding that the EU also needs to hear what Belarus, "which is already complicit in this barbaric illegal aggression," says.
“But the fact is that this would be an escalation, which would create a threat to the security of Europe and will not remain without a reaction from the member states,” Stano said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin threatened on March 25 that his country intends to place tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus for training, the latest in Moscow's series of nuclear threats against Ukraine and the West.
Putin claimed that the agreement had already been made with Belarus dictator Alexander Lukashenko, who the Russian leader claims has "long" been asking for tactical nuclear weapons to be placed in the country's territory.
Putin said the "special storage facility" for tactical nuclear weapons would be ready by July 1.
On March 26, European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell reacted to Russia’s announcement, calling it an “irresponsible escalation and threat to European security.” Borrell added that Belarus, which acts as Russia's ally in the war against Ukraine, “can still stop it, it is their choice."
Meanwhile, according to the spokesman for the U.S. National Security Council John Kirby, the country has seen “no indication he (Putin) has any intention to use nuclear weapons, period, inside Ukraine.”
Ukraine war latest: EU, NATO condemn Putin’s nuclear threats, Kyiv calls for UN Security Council meeting
Key developments on March 26: * EU, NATO denounce Putin’s threat to deploy tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus * Ukraine calls for emergency UN Security Council meeting * US sees no signs Russia moved nuclear weapons to Belarus * Military: Vuhledar ‘completely razed to the ground,’ battle for B…
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