"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.
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.
Ukraine's Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Heorhii Tykhyi attends a briefing in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Aug. 13. (Volodymyr Tarasov/Ukrinform/Future Publishing via Getty Images)
Editor's note: Shortly after the Foreign Ministry's comment, President Volodymyr Zelensky, speaking at a press conference in Paris, claimed that Russia attacked an energy facility in Kherson on March 27.
There have been no strikes on either Russian or Ukrainian energy facilities since a partial ceasefire was reportedly agreed upon on March 25, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Heorhii Tykhyi confirmed on March 27.
"I can confirm that since this date, March 25... There have been no attacks on energy objects. Neither Russian attacks on our energy objects, or our attacks on Russian energy objects," Tykhyi told the Kyiv Independent at a press briefing.
Russia and Ukraine announced a partial ceasefire on strikes against energy facilities following technical consultations with the U.S. in Riyadh earlier this week.
Moscow has claimed that its side of the energy ceasefire has been in effect since March 18, when Russian President Vladimir Putin allegedly declared a halt on such attacks following a call with U.S. President Donald Trump.
"The date, March 18, is purely invented by the Russian side, as Russian propaganda," Tykhyi commented.
"In our view, in the Ukrainian view, there were agreements made in Saudi Arabia between Ukraine and the United States... (where) we stated that we cease any attacks on energy infrastructure."
President Volodymyr Zelensky's advisor, Dmytro Lytvyn, previously said that Russia had carried out at least eight attacks against Ukrainian energy facilities between Putin's claimed pause on March 18 and the agreement in Riyadh on March 25.
Russia has also
continued its strikes against Ukraine's other civilian targets, launching hundreds of drones every day and inflicting civilian casualties.
Moscow tried to present the call between Trump and Putin as the "beginning of the energy ceasefire... but nevertheless continued attacks on energy facilities," Tykhyi said.
The spokesperson recalled that Ukraine has presented a list of energy facilities it sees as protected by the partial truce. Should Russia violate the ceasefire, increased pressure will be necessary to make Moscow adhere to the deal, he added.
Throughout the full-scale war, Russia carried out multiple waves of missile and drone strikes to knock out Ukraine's power grid, while Kyiv targeted Russian oil and gas facilities with long-range drones.
Ukraine and the U.S. previously agreed on a full 30-day truce during their talks in Jeddah on March 11. Russia had rejected this proposal unless it included conditions undermining Kyiv's ability to defend itself, such as a full halt on foreign military aid.
Martin Fornusek is a news editor at the Kyiv Independent. He has previously worked as a news content editor at the media company Newsmatics and is a contributor to Euromaidan Press. He was also volunteering as an editor and translator at the Czech-language version of Ukraïner. Martin studied at Masaryk University in Brno, Czechia, holding a bachelor's degree in security studies and history and a master's degree in conflict and democracy studies.
Martin Fornusek
