CNN
 — 

He’s believed to be the last surviving person from inside the room of the little red schoolhouse in Reims, France, where German officers agreed to end World War II in Europe.

Eighty years ago, Luciano “Louis” Graziano witnessed history when the Nazis surrendered.

But this former American soldier has no special plans for Thursday, when Victory in Europe, or VE Day, is commemorated, saying every day is special to him now.

At 102, Graziano vividly remembers what he saw that day, when it was unclear whether the Germans would sign the surrender document.

“I saw a lot of straight faces,” he told CNN. “Germans were at the table, there were the British and the French and all the other officers.”

One man not there was Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, who was using the schoolhouse as the Supreme Headquarters of the Allied Expeditionary Force.

“He wasn’t in the room, he didn’t want to be in the room in case they decided not to sign the surrender,” Graziano said, wearing a World War II veteran baseball cap.

But Eisenhower did want to see the defeated officers, so the young American soldier took them to him.

“He wouldn’t shake hands with them. They clicked their heels together and he dismissed them,” Graziano said of the meeting.

Born in East Aurora, New York to Italian immigrants, Graziano was the youngest of five children. He left school after the eighth grade to work as a mason to help support his family. His mother, sister and brother worked as hairstylists, and he decided to follow in their footsteps. But in 1943, weeks before his 20th birthday, he was drafted into the Army.

Graziano completed his military training at various bases across the United States, including Fort Dix, before being shipped to England on the Queen Mary.
On the ocean liner, he slept one night in a bunk but he chose to sleep on deck in a life vest because the quarters were so tight — he felt like he had a better chance of surviving an attack on deck.

After spending months in England working in facility operations, Graziano was in the third wave of the D-Day attack on Omaha Beach. “I drove the gasoline truck onto the beach and got up under the cliff,” he said. “The Germans were shooting down at us. I got my flamethrower out and shot up underneath … and got rid of that machine gun.”

Once in France, Graziano became the utilities foreman in the 102nd Infantry Field Artillery Battalion, meaning he oversaw American-occupied buildings, including the little red schoolhouse.

While in Reims, he met his future wife, Eula “Bobbie” Shaneyfelt, then a Staff Sergeant in the Women’s Army Corps. They married in Reims, honeymooned in Paris after the surrender, and eventually moved to Thomson, Georgia, where they raised their family.

In the decades since the end of World War II, Graziano has never gone back to France, “I’ve been asked to go many times and have my way paid,” he said. “But I don’t care to go on that ocean again.”

Graziano isn’t doing anything out of the ordinary to celebrate VE Day, though he has interviews lined up with news outlets around the world to share his story.

He plans to spend the day at home — fitting for a man whose thoughts were of the US even as he watched the European conflict end.

“I was happy to be in that room,” he said of the surrender. “I knew I was going to get to go home soon after that.”

CNN
 — 

Every year, the spring rain clouds over Moscow are carefully seeded with powerful chemicals to ensure clear skies for the annual May 9 Victory Day parade, Russia’s most important show of national pride.

This year, the threat from above comes not from rain showers, but squadrons of potentially lethal Ukrainian drones.

Already, in the days running up to this year’s parade on Red Square, multiple drone strikes have forced airspace closures at all four Moscow airports and heightened anxiety across the Russian capital.

Elsewhere, in distant Russian-annexed Crimea, local Victory Day parades have already been cancelled due to acute security concerns.

But the main event in Moscow is simply too important to abandon, so it is going ahead amid fraying nerves in the Kremlin.

And not without reason.

The often spectacular and colorful military display commemorates the Soviet defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II and the millions of Russian lives lost in that conflict. More importantly perhaps for the Kremlin, it is a means of showcasing modern Russian firepower and rallying patriotic support for the strongman Russian president, Vladimir Putin.

This year’s 80th anniversary event is particularly significant to the Kremlin and, therefore, may prove a particularly tempting target for those who wish the Kremlin ill – not least Ukraine’s increasingly capable drone operators, whose own cities have suffered near-daily deadly Russian assaults from the air.

Tens of thousands of patriotic Russians are expected to line the streets, applauding as tanks and intercontinental ballistic missile launchers rumble past.

Putin has also invited an impressive array of foreign leaders, including Xi Jinping of China and Brazil’s Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, in part to project a personal return to the world stage.

The leaders of Belarus, Venezuela, Cuba, Vietnam and the Republic of the Congo are also expected to attend, alongside presidents of several fellow former Soviet states.

Notably, the Kremlin says at least two European leaders, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico and Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, will attend the event. European Union officials have warned that Serbia’s bid to join the bloc may be jeopardized if he shows up.

Despite the large-scale gathering of world leaders, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky – who has criticized as insufficient a Russian call for a three-day ceasefire during the Victory Day commemorations – isn’t ruling out an attack either by his forces or by sympathizers inside Russia.

In a recent address, Zelensky – who says there must be a ceasefire of at least 30 days to allow for next steps to be prepared – warned that Kyiv “cannot be responsible for what happens” in Russia due to the ongoing conflict, and won’t be “playing games to create a pleasant atmosphere to allow for Putin’s exit from isolation on May 9.”

The words, which the Russian foreign ministry says amount to a direct Ukrainian threat, are overshadowing an event which would otherwise mark a culmination of significant wins for the Kremlin on the Ukrainian battlefield and, crucially, in international diplomacy.

China remains an important Russian backer and the high-profile presence of Xi at the Victory Day parade testifies to the strength of that bond.

But even more important, perhaps, is the dramatic, even startling, improvement in relations with the United States under Trump, whose administration has seemed determined to seek the restoration of friendly economic and diplomatic ties with Moscow, even at the risk of alienating traditional allies.

A recent US peace proposal, for example, suggested the Trump administration would formally recognize the Crimean peninsula – illegally annexed by Moscow in 2014 – as Russian territory, overturning years of stated US policy.

Likewise, Trump’s wavering military support for Ukraine, tariffs on close US allies and threats of annexing Canada and Greenland, have placed unprecedented strains on the Western alliance, while being met with joyful praise in Russia.

In a sign of the feverish optimism, Russian state-controlled media outlets have even speculated that Marco Rubio, the US Secretary of State and Trump’s current acting national security adviser, would personally attend the May 9 Victory Day parade – alongside North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un, no less – although the Kremlin officially refuses to confirm it is expecting either figure to attend. The White House has not confirmed that any US representative will be present.

But every silver lining, as they say, has a cloud. And things are not all going the Kremlin’s way.

The security threat hanging over the Victory Day parade in Moscow potentially foreshadows the looming challenges for the Kremlin in its ongoing war in Ukraine, which shows precious little sign of abating.

Latest Western estimates of Russian casualties, unconfirmed by the Kremlin, which has been customarily tight-lipped on the matter, are fast approaching an appalling one million people killed or injured, a figure that is only likely to increase if the fighting continues.

There are also ominous signs that the up-until-now resilient Russian economy may finally start to buckle as global crude oil prices, essential for Moscow’s coffers, continue to plunge amid fears of a global economic slowdown.

Meanwhile, worryingly for Moscow, a frustrated Trump, who before taking office bragged that he could end the Ukraine war quickly, has been confounded in that ambition and left contemplating renewed military support for Ukraine and fresh sanctions on Moscow.

It will very soon be Victory Day in Russia, but beyond the pomp and ceremony on Red Square, a Russian victory in Ukraine remains a distant prospect.

Washington, DC
CNN
 — 

Vice President JD Vance said Wednesday that the Russians are “asking for too much” in requirements to end the war with Ukraine and that he believes it’s time the two sides come together in “direct negotiation.”

“I wouldn’t say that the Russians are uninterested in bringing this thing to a resolution. What I would say is, right now, the Russians are asking for a certain set of requirements, a certain set of concessions in order to end the conflict. We think they’re asking for too much,” Vance said during a Q&A session at the Munich Leaders Meeting in Washington, DC — his second time in recent months addressing the group after a blistering speech in Germany in which he criticized European allies.

Asked about Vance’s comments on Russia later Wednesday, President Donald Trump appeared unaware of them, but said, “Well, it’s possible that’s right. He may know some things that, uh – because I’ve been dealing with this and some other things.”

The president went on to reiterate the administration’s warning that there isn’t indefinite tolerance for negotiations that do not make progress as he grows frustrated at his inability to end the war.

“We are getting to a point where some decisions are going to have to be made. I’m not happy about it,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. “I’m not happy about it.”

During his remarks, Vance said the Trump administration had moved beyond the US-proposed 30-day ceasefire that Ukraine had accepted, noting that Russia had said it “is not in our strategic interest.”

“What the Russians have said – again, you don’t have to agree with it, but it’s important to understand where the other side is coming from – what the Russians have said, is a 30-day ceasefire is not in our strategic interest,” Vance said. “We’ve tried to move beyond the obsession with the 30-day ceasefire and more on the, what would the long-term settlement look like, and we’ve tried to consistently advance the ball.”

The next step, Vance stressed, is getting Russia and Ukraine to talk directly to each other.

“We would like both the Russians and the Ukrainians to actually agree on some basic guidelines for sitting down and talking to one another,” Vance said. “Obviously, the United States is happy to participate in those conversations, but it’s very important for the Russians and the Ukrainians to start talking to one another. We think that is the next big step that we would like to take.”

He added: “We think it’s probably impossible for us to mediate this entirely without at least some direct negotiation between the two.”

Vance emphasized that he’s “not yet a pessimist” on the chances of the conflict ending and called Trump a “genuine humanitarian” for wanting to see the fighting end.

“Our strong view is that the continuation of this conflict is bad for us. It’s bad for Europe, it’s bad for Russia and it’s bad for Ukraine. We think that if cool heads prevail here, we can bring this thing to a durable peace that will be economically beneficial for both Ukrainians and the Russians, and most importantly, will stop the end of the of the destruction of human lives,” Vance added.

In an interview a day earlier, the Trump administration’s envoy to Ukraine and Russia called President Vladimir Putin’s refusal to agree to the 30-day truce the main “impediment” to progress on peace talks and said Ukraine is willing to create a demilitarized zone inside its territory as part of a potential ceasefire agreement.

“Our impediment to progress is the president of Russia right now not agreeing to (the 30-day ceasefire),” Keith Kellogg told Fox News, adding that it was in the Kremlin leader’s interest to agree to the ceasefire because “the Russians are not winning this war.”

Kyiv has previously said it would be willing to freeze the conflict along the current lines of contact as part of a ceasefire — but has not given any concrete public proposals on a demilitarized zone. CNN has reached out to the Ukrainian government for comment.

Putin has proposed a three-day ceasefire around the celebrations of the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War. But Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has rejected that offer and reiterated his support for the 30-day truce.

Vance says US and Europe on ‘the same team’

Vance’s appearance Wednesday came months after giving a fiery speech in Germany where he accused European leaders of turning from shared values, such as free speech, and downplayed threats from Russia.

While that speech was not a focus of Wednesday’s meeting, it did not go unmentioned.

Off the top, Wolfgang Ischinger — the former chairman of the conference and now president of the MSC Foundation Council — held up a brochure the group published about Vance’s remarks and reaction to it from across the world, which he said “kicked off a controversial debate about fundamental values unlike anything we have ever had at the Munich Security Conference.”

Vance struck a more conciliatory tone, saying that Europe and the US are “on the same team.”

“I think that European civilization and American civilization, European culture and American culture, are very much linked, and they’re always going to be linked,” Vance said. “And I think it’s, it’s completely ridiculous to think that you’re ever going to be able to drive a firm wedge between the United States and Europe.”

Reiterating his and Trump’s view that the Europeans need to boost their own defense spending, Vance said conversations about security posture and other “big questions” should be rethought together.

In closing remarks after the Q&A, Vance joked about the controversy surrounding his previous speech, appearing to smooth things over.

“I appreciate the kind words, and I appreciate the invitation back. I wasn’t sure after February whether I’d get the invitation back,” he said.

Ischinger chimed in, “Well, we thought about it…”

Ivana Kottasová, Kostya Gak and Victoria Butenko contributed to this report.