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.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze (R), Founder and Honorary President of the Georgian Dream Party Bidzina Ivanishvili (C), and Chairman of the Georgian Dream Party Irakli Garibashvili (L) attend the protest in support of the draft law on "Transparency of Foreign Influence," in Tbilisi, Georgia on April 29, 2024. (Davit Kachkachishvili/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Members of Georgia's ruling Georgian Dream party voted to revoke the mandates of 49 opposition parliamentarians on Feb. 5 after they refused to take their seats, citing concerns over the legitimacy of the results of the October parliamentary election.
The vote effectively brings the total number of Georgian parliamentarians down to 89 of the 150 elected in the disputed parliamentary elections —all of which now sit under the Georgian Dream party banner.
Although 49 elected MPs formally requested to resign their mandates in protests, a further 12 opposition MPs from the "For Georgia" party have refused to attend parliamentary sessions.
The October election, which was widely disputed by the opposition and international observers, re-elected the Russian-friendly Georgian Dream party. The ruling Georgian Dream party, founded by oligarch Bidzina Ivanishvili, has drawn criticism for steering Georgia closer to Russia while hindering its EU accession.
Following the election, mass protests erupted in Tbilisi over the results, as well as amid a political crisis sparked by Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze's announcement that Georgia's EU integration could be delayed until 2028.
Anti-Western politician Mikheil Kavelashvili, an ally of the ruling Georgian Dream party, was inaugurated as the country's sixth president on Dec. 29 in a move seen as illegitimate by the opposition.
Georgia's fifth president, Salome Zourabichvili, said she would vacate the presidential palace but stressed she remains the only legitimate head of state, pledging to continue the struggle against the ruling party.
Since the election, a number of Western countries have imposed sanctions on Georgia over the perceived democratic backsliding. On Jan. 27, the European Union suspended parts of its visa facilitation agreement with Georgia.
Dmytro Basmat is a senior news editor for The Kyiv Independent. He previously worked in Canadian politics as a communications lead and spokesperson for a national political party, and as a communications assistant for a Canadian Member of Parliament. Basmat has a Master's degree in Political Management from Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada, and a Bachelor of Arts in Politics and Governance from Toronto Metropolitan University.
Sonya Bandouil
