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.
The United Kingdom is to provide Ukraine with a 1.7 billion pounds loan to help Ukraine build up its maritime power. (Ukraine's navy)
Ukraine's parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, has ratified a deal to get a loan worth $2.3 billion (1.7 billion pounds) from the United Kingdom and procure warships and key naval infrastructure.
The bill was supported by 236 lawmakers in the final voting on Jan. 27.
The deal particularly envisages financing a British investment project to provide Ukraine with two minesweeping vessels, as well as to ensure their maintenance and transferring. Earlier, the Royal Navy declared providing Ukraine with two decommissioned Sandown-class ships, HMS Blyth and HMS Ramsey, with the first vessels expected to be handed over in 2022.
The 10-year loan also finances the production of eight new gunboats, two of them being manufactured in Britain and the rest in Ukraine.
Besides, the agreement envisages a joint production of a frigate for Ukraine, as well as the support in installing new naval infrastructure.
It remains unclear whether the U.K. wants to manufacture a brand new Ukrainian frigate on its soil. According to numerous sources, it may invest in the production of half-constructed corvette Volodymyr Velykiy, a project that hasn't been completed in more than a decade due to poor financing.
The funding comes primarily from the U.K. Export Finance program, as well as various bank loans, according to Ukraine's military.
Illia Ponomarenko was a defense and security reporter at the Kyiv Independent in 2021-2023. He has reported about the war in eastern Ukraine since the conflict’s earliest days. He covers national security issues, as well as military technologies, production, and defense reforms in Ukraine. Besides, he gets deployed to the war zone of Donbas with Ukrainian combat formations. He has also had deployments to Palestine and the Democratic Republic of the Congo as an embedded reporter with UN peacekeeping forces. Illia won the Alfred Friendly Press Partners fellowship and was selected to work as USA Today's guest reporter at the U.S. Department of Defense.
