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.
"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."
"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.
Russia's President Vladimir Putin and China's President Xi Jinping at the third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation in Beijing on Oct. 18, 2023. (Photo by Grigory Sysoyev / POOL / AFP)
Russian dictator Vladimir Putin spoke at China's Belt and Road Forum in Beijing on Oct. 18, as the second speaker after Chinese President Xi Jinping gave his address.
Putin praised the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), China's global infrastructure project that aims to connect trade and investment along what was once Silk Road routes.
The summit marks 10 years since the BRI was established.In his opening speech, Xi framed the initiative as an alternative economic model to those established by Western countries.
The BRI is in line with Russian ideas to create a Eurasian partnership, Putin said.
He claimed that Russia, like China and other countries in the world, wants "equal, mutually beneficial cooperation in order to achieve universal sustainable and long-term economic progress."
However, every country has the right to its "own developmental model," he said.
After addressing the summit, the two leaders then held a bilateral meeting. Putin told Xi that "close political coordination is necessary in current difficult times."
Putin is expected to give a press conference later on Oct. 18.
Putin's presence at the summit marks his second trip abroad since the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued a warrant for his arrest over his role in the illegal deportation of Ukrainian children in March 2023.
China has yet to address the ICC's arrest warrant for Putin.
His last visit to China was in February 2022, three weeks before he launched the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
While China has officially positioned itself as a neutral party in the war and called for a diplomatic solution, Beijing has not denounced the Kremlin's aggression and has continued to develop close mutual ties.
Economic support from China is crucial for Moscow's funding of its war, as the Russian economy has been isolated by Western sanctions.
Martin Fornusek
