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.
Washington and its partners are considering additional sanctions if the parties do not observe a ceasefire, with political and technical negotiations between Europe and the U.S. intensifying since last week, Reuters' source said.
The Kyiv Independent’s contributor Ignatius Ivlev-Yorke spent a day with a mobile team from the State Emergency Service in Nikopol in the south of Ukraine as they responded to relentless drone, artillery, and mortar strikes from Russian forces just across the Dnipro River. Nikopol is located across from the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in the city of Enerhodar.
Peter Szijjarto's announcement came after Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) allegedly dismantled a Hungarian military intelligence network operating in Zakarpattia Oblast.
A view shows the Russian oil producer Gazprom Neft's Moscow oil refinery on the south-eastern outskirts of Moscow, Russia on April 28, 2022. (Natalia Kolesnikova/AFP/Getty Images)
Austrian oil and gas company OMV has terminated its long-term gas supply contract with Russia's Gazprom Export, the OMV website reported on Dec. 11.
The contract was originally set to last until 2040.
The company cited "numerous material violations of contractual obligations" by Gazprom. According to OMV, gas deliveries stopped on Nov. 16, 2024.
"Thanks to the successful efforts of our gas team over the past three years, OMV is well positioned to leverage our diversified supply of alternative gas sources, ensuring the security of supply for our customers," said OMV CEO Alfred Stern, highlighting current gas reserves from Norway, Austria, and LNG sources.
Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer also commented on the situation, saying on X that Russia's attempt to weaponize energy "didn't work."
"Austria will not allow itself to be blackmailed by Russia," he said.
OMV noted that its gas storage facilities are currently about 85% full, ensuring stability for customers amid the transition.
OMV supplies about 30% of the Austrian gas market, and its biggest shareholder is the Austrian government.
Sonya Bandouil is a North American news editor for The Kyiv Independent. She previously worked in the fields of cybersecurity and translating, and she also edited for various journals in NYC.
Sonya has a Master’s degree in Global Affairs from New York University, and a Bachelor’s degree in Music from the University of Houston, in Texas.
Dmytro Basmat
