"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.
Two border posts of Russia and Lithuania stand at the border fence in Kybartai. (Fabian Sommer / picture alliance via Getty Images)
Lithuania will invest 1.1 billion euros ($1.2 billion) over the next decade to strengthen defenses along its borders with Russia and Belarus, the Defense Ministry announced on May 5.
Lithuania borders Russia's Kaliningrad exclave to the southwest and Belarus to the east and south. Tensions between NATO and Moscow have escalated since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
The ministry said the initiative aims to "block and slow" a possible invasion. About 800 million euros ($905 million) will be allocated for the acquisition and installation of anti-tank mines to deter potential aggression.
Western intelligence agencies have warned of a potential large-scale war in Europe within the next five years, citing Russia's increasingly aggressive posture.
Lithuanian officials have prioritized the defense of the Suwalki Corridor, a strategic stretch connecting Lithuania to Poland, seen as vital for NATO's eastern flank.
A map of the Baltic Sea Region. (Lisa Kukharska/The Kyiv Independent)
In January, Vilnius announced plans to raise its defense spending to between 5% and 6% of GDP annually from 2026 to 2030, citing the threat of Russian aggression in the region.
On March 18, Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia, and Poland declared their intent to withdraw from the Ottawa Convention, an international treaty banning anti-personnel mines.
Moscow has reacted sharply to these moves. Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) Director Sergey Naryshkin warned on April 15 that Poland and the Baltic states would be the "first to suffer" in a direct NATO-Russia conflict.
Tim Zadorozhnyy is a news editor at The Kyiv Independent. Based in Warsaw, he is pursuing studies in International Relations, focusing on European Studies. Tim began his career at a local television channel in Odesa. After moving to Warsaw, he joined the Belarusian opposition media outlet NEXTA, starting as a news anchor and later advancing to the position of managing editor.
Daria Shulzhenko
