"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.
This photograph taken on March 5, 2025, shows a television screen broadcasting France's President Emmanuel Macron addressing a live interview on French TV at the Elysee Presidential Palace in Paris. Emmanuel Macron announced on March 5, 2025, that France will gather next week in Paris the chiefs of staff from countries ready to guarantee a future peace in Ukraine. (LUDOVIC MARIN/AFP via Getty Images)
During a televised address to his nation on March 5, French President Emmanuel Macron said he was open to extending France's nuclear umbrella to protect European allies.
"I have decided to start strategic discussions on the defense of the entire continent with our nuclear weapons. The decision will depend on the heads and commanders-in-chief of European countries," Macron said.
The remarks come amid ongoing Russian aggression on the European continent that extends beyond Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Russia has been accused of waging a proxy war with Europe, having been alleged of numerous incidents of Russian sabotage on the continent.
"The threat from Russia extends to the whole of Europe," Macron said. "This aggressiveness seems far away, but it is very close. Russia is interfering in our elections, spreading propaganda everywhere."
France and the United Kingdom are the only two European nations that possess a nuclear arsenal. Macron added that a final decision on the matter would ultimately rest with the French president.
Macron further called for European allies to increase spending on defense, amid concerns that the United States may not come to Europe's defense if it is attacked by Russia.
"I want to believe that the U.S. will stand by our side, but we have to be ready for that not to be the case," Macron said, emphasizing that Russia continues to amass a larger military presence.
"Russia continues to rearm, it spends 40% of its budget on defense. By 2030, Russia wants to mobilize another three million soldiers and add four thousand tanks to its arsenal."
Western leaders and defense officials previously warned about the threat emanating from Russia amid Europe's current lack of military preparedness. Western intelligence agencies have also warned that Russia may find the opportunity to launch a large-scale war on Europe within five years.
"Russia has become a threat for France and Europe," Macron said. "(T)o watch and do nothing would be madness."
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.
Tim Zadorozhnyy
