"I have great hope that an agreement for a ceasefire in Ukraine will be reached this weekend," German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on May 9, shortly before traveling to Kyiv alongside the leaders of France, Poland, and the U.K.
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.
Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky at the informal meeting of NATO Ministers of foreign affairs in Berlin, Germany, on May 15, 2022. (Janine Schmitz/Photothek via Getty Images)
EU foreign ministers are set to discuss the termination of the U.S. grant that funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) during a meeting in Brussels on March 17, according to a Kyiv Independent reporter in Brussels.
The news follows U.S. President Donald Trump’s executive order on March 14 to eliminate seven federal agencies, including the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM), which oversees RFE/RL and Voice of America (VoA).
As a result of Trump’s decision, the congressionally authorized grant that funded RFE/RL has been terminated.
Before the ministerial meeting in Brussels, Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky emphasized the importance of RFE/RL and VoA's work, calling them a "beacon" for people living in countries under authoritarianism.
"Do we see value in such an organization, broadcasting to countries like Russia, Belarus, Iran, and many others? And if we see such value, what are we willing to do to keep such a service in our favor?" Lipavsky said, adding that the Czech Republic has hosted Radio Liberty's headquarters in Prague for almost three decades.
Czech officials also circulated among their EU colleagues a draft statement seen by RFE/RL expressing grave concerns about the situation with RFE/RL's funding.
Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski confirmed that the EU is considering options to help the media after the U.S. funding cutoff, according to a Kyiv Independent reporter in Brussels.
"We are at the stage of brainstorming, but clearly, these are worthy institutions whose mission should continue," Sikorski said.
Trump has long criticized U.S.-funded media organizations, criticizing them over their coverage of the U.S. president, and often referring to them as "fake news."
The Trump administration has previously cut thousands of federally-funded positions, with the cuts directly impacting support for Ukraine.
In February, the Trump administration terminated the employment of top officials from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) after they attempted to prevent representatives from Elon Musk's DOGE from accessing restricted areas.
Kateryna Hodunova is a News Editor at the Kyiv Independent. She previously worked as a sports journalist in several Ukrainian outlets and was the deputy chief editor at Suspilne Sport. Kateryna covered the 2022 Olympics in Beijing and was included in the Special Mentions list at the AIPS Sport Media Awards. She holds a bachelor's degree in political journalism from Taras Shevchenko University and a master's degree in political science from the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy.
Dmytro Basmat
