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.
The visit marks Merz’s first trip to Ukraine, and the first time all four leaders have travelled there together.
"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.
"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.
A German government spokesperson on Feb. 26 denied a report that France, Germany and the U.K. have suggested a NATO defense pact with Ukraine in exchange for resuming peace talks with Russia, Reuters reported.
The spokesperson said that “there has been no development in the possible NATO security guarantees for Ukraine” for months.
The issue “played no role at all” during President Volodymyr Zelensky’s meeting with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron earlier in February, the spokesperson added.

The announcement comes shortly after a recent report on the issue by the Wall Street Journal.
The newspaper reported, citing officials from the three countries, that France, Germany, and the U.K. had suggested a defense pact with Ukraine. According to the report, the countries also believe that closer links between NATO and Ukraine may serve as a way to encourage Kyiv to begin peace talks with Moscow this year.
While the parameters of the pact are not set in stone, some officials from the three countries said Ukraine would likely obtain access to a “broad array of NATO standard weapon systems and integrate its armed forces more tightly into the Western defense industry supply chain.”
The proposed pact would not include the sending of NATO forces to Ukraine or Article 5 protection but rather give Ukraine the military means to prevent a future attack by Russia by changing the Kremlin’s calculus.

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