George Simion, leader of Romania's far-right AUR party, who won the first round of the presidential election with nearly 40% of the vote, reiterated that if elected, he would oppose any further assistance to Ukraine and shift Romania’s focus inward.
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.
View of the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France, during a session held in June 2021. (European Parliament)
The European Parliament passed a resolution on Dec. 16 condemning Russia for threatening Ukraine with war and promising a “high economic and political price” for new hostilities.
The resolution calling for Russia to withdraw its forces was approved by 548 votes of 705 members.
“Russia does not decide Ukraine’s future,” the parliament said in a statement. “The EU must be ready to send Russia a stark warning that military hostilities against Ukraine will not only be unacceptable but would also come at a high economic and political price.”
The resolution called on the EU members to agree on “severe economic and financial sanctions against the Russian government to address immediate threats”, rather than wait for another invasion.
According to numerous reports from Ukrainian and foreign intelligence, Russia has massed nearly 100,000 combat-ready troops close to the Ukrainian border and in occupied areas.
On Dec. 1, Russian President Vladimir Putin demanded a NATO guarantee that it wouldn’t expand to include Ukraine while launching military exercises with 10,000 troops in the country’s Southern Military District, which is adjacent to Ukraine, as well as in Russian-occupied Crimea.
The scope of sanctions evoked by the text entails a wide scope of economic sanctions against the Kremlin.
The text said sanctions should include freezing Russian financial and physical assets in the EU, travel bans, the exclusion of Russia from the international SWIFT bank payment system, as well as targeting key sectors of Russia’s economy, including the country’s intelligence services and its military support.
The potential sanctions could target Russian officers involved in the planning of a possible invasion, as well as oligarchs and other people “in the orbit of the Russian President (Vladimir Putin) and their families.”
European parliament members urged the shutdown of Russia’s controversial Nord Stream 2 pipeline regardless of whether it gets certified in Germany.
If launched, Nord Stream 2 will be able to transport 55 billion cubic meters of gas per year under the Baltic Sea, depriving Ukraine of up to $2 billion of annual transit revenues and a deterrent against further Russian aggression.
On Nov. 16, Germany’s federal energy regulator suspended the certification of Nord Stream 2. The regulator said that Nord Stream 2 AG, the Russian-owned, Swiss-registered company responsible for the project, did not meet German energy law and needed to register a German subsidiary.
On Dec. 12, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock reportedly said that Russia’s current hostile actions towards Ukraine are “a factor” in the certification delay of the Kremlin’s Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline.
Certification is not expected in the first half of 2022, the regulator told Reuters on Dec. 16.
President Volodymyr Zelensky thanked the European Parliament for support.
"Military actions against Ukraine will have a high economic and political price for Russia," Zelensky wrote on Twitter. "A threat to Ukraine's security is a threat to Europe's peace and stability."
The EU resolution was approved a day after the EU’s Eastern Partnership summit, a joint initiative organized by the EU and dedicated to the development of the bloc’s relations with Ukraine, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia and Moldova.
Before the summit, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen warned that the EU could adopt “unprecedented measures with serious consequences for Russia.″
Alexander Query is a reporter at the Kyiv Independent. He is the former business editor at the Kyiv Post. He worked as a TV correspondent and an anchorman at UATV in Ukraine, and received a BA in modern literature from La Sorbonne, in Paris.
