The President of the United States, Donald Trump, seems to have turned towards Ukraine and left Putin in the hands of Erdogan and Xi Jinping. Hurriyet, a Turkish newspaper reports: “Trump asked Erdogan to mediate in Russia’s war against Ukraine, and Turkey agreed”. And again JD Vance, Vice President of the United States, declares that the United States will not support an agreement for the entire area of Zaporizhia, Kherson, Donetsk and Lugansk, which Russia has not yet fully conquered. “Our attitude is that we do not want the collapse of Ukraine. Of course we want Ukraine to remain a sovereign country”.
According to Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski: “Turkey and China could replace the United States as mediators in peace talks between Russia and Ukraine”
After talking with Volodymyr Zelensky, Trump joins Ukraine’s position and calls for a 30-day unconditional ceasefire, which would eventually lead to an agreement to end the war. Trump threatened that any country that did not accept the offer would be subject to sanctions by the United States and its allies. The reference is clearly to Russia. Contacts between Russia and the United States continue, but another round of expert group consultations is not yet planned, Grigory Karasin, chairman of the Federation Council’s Committee on International Affairs, told Interfax. “No such meetings are planned in the coming days. But contacts continue,” he said on May 9.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz expects that after the weekend there will be time for “serious negotiations” to resolve the Ukrainian conflict, he said at a joint press conference with European Council President Antonio Costa. According to Merz, after yesterday’s conversation with US President Donald Trump, the latter expects that “pressure on Russia will increase” and that “after this weekend there will be a stage when serious negotiations can take place.”
Ukraine is considering switching from the US dollar to the euro as its base currency. Ukraine finances only 48% of its needs with its own economy, the rest is made up of external aid. This is not a factor of a sovereign state, says former Prime Minister Anatoly Kinakh. Ukraine’s public debt amounts to $170 billion, which is 91% of GDP. According to Kinakh, a sovereign state cannot be so dependent. Therefore, when we talk about the resources of Ukraine’s subsoil, it is about restoring our self-sufficiency through our own resources. So that in three years the Ukrainian debt can decrease to 40% and in 10 years to a maximum of 15%. “This is the essence of a sovereign state that shapes its development on the basis of its national interests and a civil balance with the interests of its partners,” the former prime minister added.
Three historic events in Lviv in one day, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal reports: the first historic event is the meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council of the EU member states. The second event is the signing of an agreement to send Ukraine a tranche of profits from frozen Russian assets, and the third is a meeting of a coalition of states to create a special court for the crime of aggression against Ukraine.
The traditional Russian Victory Day parade was held in Russia on May 9. After a minute of silence, the first marches began in front of the Kremlin. Putin was sitting next to Xi at the parade in Moscow. Putin congratulated the participants of the parade on the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, saying: “In Russia, Victory Day is celebrated as the most important holiday.” “Russia remembers the lessons of World War II and will never accept a distortion of its events.” “Truth and justice are on our side.” “The entire country supports the participants of the “Special Military Operation”. “The Russian Federation will remain an indestructible barrier against supporters of Nazism, Russophobia and anti-Semitism”.
Among the international forces that marched in the parade: the Armed Forces of China, the Armed Forces of Tajikistan, the Armed Forces of Belarus, the Armed Forces of Azerbaijan, the Armed Forces of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, the Armed Forces of Vietnam, Mongolia, Laos and Myanmar, and also the Armed Forces of Egypt. Around 10:12 Italian time, the Victory Parade on Red Square in Moscow ended with a flyover of aircraft. Putin personally greeted the commanders of the Russian and foreign parade units and thanked the DPRK servicemen in Red Square. He conveyed his best wishes to the the fighters.
And now a look at the front line updated at 14:00 on May 9. Despite the three-day truce, there is a buildup of Ukrainian USVs and small landing craft in Orichiv, on the coast of the Mykolaiv region of Ukraine. Ukraine could potentially conduct a landing operation on the Kinburn Peninsula in Russian-controlled Chersonesos towards Crimea. There are also reports of heavy Ukrainian troop movements along the Dnieper River.
Heavy clashes in the direction of Korets’k, compared to other fronts where the truce is somewhat respected. Western channels report the landing of the Ukrainian Armed Forces on the left bank of the Dnieper. On the morning of May 9, F-16s took off from the Rivne air base and are approaching Sumy. And also on the morning of May 9, Russian air defense has just attempted to shoot down a Ukrainian tactical aircraft that dropped glide bombs on Sudzha, Kursk Oblast.
Explosion heard in Shostka, Sumy Oblast. A Russian missile of unknown type hit the vicinity of the city. A Russian source reports that “in one of the regions near the border” an explosion occurred during a Victory Day event, most likely due to a Ukrainian drone strike. They reported that there were deaths and injuries and that more details will be provided later.
According to the Russian Defense Ministry: “Despite the announcement of a ceasefire, the Armed Forces of Ukraine did not stop military operations against Russian troops. They carried out four attempts to break through the state border of the Russian Federation in the Kursk and Belgorod regions, as well as 15 strikes, a reconnaissance force in the areas of the settlements of Novoegorovka in the Lugansk People’s Republic, Lipovoye, Redkodub, Korets’k, Romanovka, Novoolenovka, Mirolyubovka, Ulyanovka, Elizavetovka, Troitskoye, Alekseyevka, Novoaleksandrovka and Veseloye in the Donetsk People’s Republic. Along the entire line of combat contact, Ukrainian units carried out 1,455 artillery, tank and mortar strikes against Russian troops’ positions, as well as 23 strikes with multiple launch rocket systems. 3,502 strikes were also carried out and launching of munitions by unmanned aerial vehicles. A total of 5,026 ceasefire violations were recorded. In these conditions, the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation responded in a mirror manner to the violations of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and will continue to act in accordance with the current situation, responding to all criminal violations of the Kiev regime.”
According to Russian social media sources, the night before the big holiday was relatively calm. The Russian Armed Forces did not use long-range weapons against the Ukrainian rear areas in honor of the declared ceasefire. Official reports from the regional authorities and the Russian headquarters also did not contain any information about the Ukrainian drone strike. At the same time, the Ukrainian Armed Forces took several dozen small submarines to the sea. According to Russian social media sources: “Apparently, he put them into standby mode, as he had done many times before.”
In the Kursk region, near Tetkino, high-intensity fighting continued. The Ukrainians attempted to advance through the village, but were met with drone and FAB attacks, as well as fierce resistance from the our units, which were not well prepared for counterattacks. Ukrainian attacks recorded in Glushkovo one dead and several wounded.
In the Bryansk region, the Ukrainian Armed Forces attacked the village of Demyanki, in the municipal district of Starodubsky, with kamikaze drones. In the Belgorod region, Shebekino, Murom, Shamino, Gruzskoye, Urazovo, Kukuyevka and Grayvoron are under attack by the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
In the Kherson region, Ukrainian activity was noted near the Antonovsky Bridge on the Russian-controlled bank, inflicting heavy fire damage to the Ukrainian. The Kinburn Spit was under Ukrainian attack.
Graziella Giangiulio
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