His comments came as Russian forces fired missiles at Odesa, hitting a shopping centre and a warehouse, killing one and wounding others.
• Attacks continued in the north-eastern Kharkiv region
• Ukrainian journalists were praised for"courage and endurance" in a special citation from the organisers of the prestigious Pulitzer PrizeVladimir Putin's Victory Day address to his nation surprised some The European Union's executive arm, the European Commission, said it aims to deliver a first opinion in June on Ukraine's request to become a member of the bloc.
But once candidate status is granted, the process of EU membership usually takes years and any single member-state can veto not only any final accession deal, but also the opening and closing of individual negotiation chapters. Meanwhile on the battlefield, intense fighting has raged in Ukraine's vital Black Sea port of Odesa while Russian forces sought to finish off the Ukrainian defenders making their last stand at a steel plant in Mariupol.The Ukrainian military said Russian forces fired seven missiles from the air at Odesa on Monday night, hitting a shopping centre and a warehouse.