"(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.
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.
A cargo ship departed from Ukraine's Odesa Oblast within the framework of the grain shipment agreement, is pictured in the Bosphorus on August 3, 2022, in Istanbul, Turkey. (Getty Images)
Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov announced on March 18 that the grain deal, which has enabled Ukraine to export millions of tonnes of agricultural products via the Black Sea, has been extended for another 120 days.
The UN and Turkey-brokered deal, signed in July, has been paramount in subduing soaring food prices worldwide. Ukraine is a major exporter of wheat, sunflower oil, and other food products worldwide. According to the UN, food prices fell by 17.9 percent in February from an all-time high in March 2022.
While Moscow has said over the past week that it does not object to the renewal of the grain deal, there had been uncertainty over whether the deal would be extended for 120 days, as the previous extensions. Moscow had called for a 60-day term, which was swiftly rejected by Kyiv.
"Ukraine is one of the key links of global food security, so we insist that the grain deal be open-ended and automatically extended for 120 days," Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said at a government meeting on March 17, a day before the grain deal was renewed by both sides.
Since the landmark grain deal kicked off in August 2022, over 800 ships carrying more than 23 million tonnes of grain and food commodities have left three Black Sea ports in the southern Odesa Oblast, BBC reported on March 16, citing the UN's Joint Coordination Centre (JCC)'s data.
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