"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.
The sanctions list includes 58 individuals and 74 companies, with 67 Russian enterprises related to military technology.
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.
Despite the Kremlin's announcement of a May 8–11 truce, heavy fighting continued in multiple regions throughout the front line.
Putin has done in Russia everything that Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva had been against in Brazil.
Russian officials are likely using the alleged May 3 drone strike on the Kremlin as a pretext to continue cancelling upcoming Victory Day parades, the Institute for the Study of War said in its latest update.
Russia said the Kremlin was targeted with drones overnight on May 3, accusing Ukraine and the West of attempting to assassinate Russian dictator Vladimir Putin. Video footage showed two drones exploding over the official residence of the president located within the Kremlin in Moscow's Red Square.
Russian authorities have already canceled May 9 Victory Day celebrations in at least 21 cities. Officials claim they are cancelling the parades for "moral and ethical reasons" and out of concern for soldiers Russian soldiers undergoing rehabilitation.
The Kremlin may be cancelling the celebrations in order to "to conceal the degradation of the Russian military" caused by Russia's war against Ukraine, according to the ISW.
It also likely fears that celebrations honoring fallen soldiers could become a source of political unrest over Russia's very high casualty rates in Ukraine. "Russian officials have canceled immortal regiment memorial events in recent weeks likely for such reasons," the ISW wrote.
The D.C.-based think tank earlier reported on May 3 that several indicators suggest the drone strike was purposefully staged by Russia to shore up domestic support for the war and to " set conditions for a wider societal mobilization," framing the attack as part of larger existential threats to Russia.

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