(Updated: )Victory Day
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Friday, May 9
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.
Friday, May 9
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.
(Updated: )
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.
Despite the Kremlin’s announcement of a May 8–11 truce, heavy fighting continued in multiple regions throughout the day.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky signed a law on April 21 that prohibits naming geographic sites in Ukraine after Russian figures or historical events associated with Russian aggression. The move is part of larger “de-Russification” efforts in Ukraine amid Russia’s full-scale invasion.
Titled “On Geographical Names,” the law aims to address the “decolonization of toponymy” and to regulate the use of place names in Ukraine, according to the text of the law.
The law prohibits naming geographical sites with titles that “glorify, perpetuate, promote, or symbolize” Russia or its “prominent, memorable, historical and cultural places, cities, dates, events, and figures who carried out military aggression against Ukraine and other sovereign countries.”
It also bans geographic markers associated with “state totalitarian policies and practices related to the persecution of opposition figures, dissidents and other persons” who criticized “totalitarian Soviet and totalitarian Russian regimes.”
Since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, Ukraine has continued a ongoing process of “de-Russification” that gained momentum after the Euromaidan Revolution in 2014. As part of these efforts, monuments to Russian historical figures have been dismantled and streets named after Russians or Soviet history have been renamed.
In January of this year, Kyiv residents cast more than 100,000 votes to rename the capital’s metro station “Friendship of Peoples” (Druzhby Narodiv in Ukrainian) to “Zvirynetska," the historical name of the area, and "Lva Tolstoho,” named after the Russian writer Lev Tolstoi, to “Ukrainian Heroes Square.”
Last Spring, monuments to Russian writer Alexander Pushkin were dismantled in cities like Ukraine’s southern port city of Mykolaiv, Ukraine’s western city of Ternopil and in the western Zakarpattia Oblast.
Similarly, a monument to Russian Empress Catherine II was dismantled in Odesa on Dec. 28, following an online vote by Odesa residents. Activists had petitioned for years to dismantle the statue, erected in 1900, when Odesa was part of the Russian Empire. Despite being taken down by the Bolsheviks in the 1920s, it was put back up in 2007.
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