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.
Kirill Dmitriev, head of Russia's sovereign wealth fund, speaks to a media member on the sidelines of the U.S.-Russia meeting at Riyadh's Diriyah Palace on February 18, 2025. (Evelyn Hockstein / POOL / AFP)
Kremlin negotiator Kirill Dmitriev announced on April 6 that new contacts between Russia and the United States could take place as early as next week.
Dmitriev, in an interview with Russia’s state-controlled TVChannel One, expressed "cautious optimism" about the renewed diplomatic engagement and emphasized the importance of restoring bilateral ties.
“Of course, the big focus is on restoring Russian-American relations, I have been busy with this for a long time, for many years. Of course, the focus is on economic and investment cooperation... We see the beginning of a respectful, good dialogue,” he said.
The announcement comes amid broader Russian efforts to re-engage with the West, including discussions on sanctions and frozen assets.
Dmitriev played a role in backchannel diplomacy between Moscow and Trump when he was first elected in 2016.
The official was then appointed by Putin as his representative for foreign economic relations and was involved in early U.S.-Russian negotiations in Riyadh in February.
Moscow has shown signs it is unwilling to move forward on a peace deal with Ukraine, and Russian authorities have listed maximalist demands in ceasefire negotiations with Ukraine and the U.S.
As a result, U.S. officials have grown increasingly frustrated with Moscow's slowness in negotiations, according to Bloomberg reports.
However, Dmitriev has praised the administration under Trump for its “constructive and respectful” dialogue with Russia.
Additionally, according to Reuters, talks between Russia and the U.S. have also included the potential restoration of direct flights, U.S. companies re-entering the Russian market, and cooperation in areas such as rare earth metals and Arctic development.
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.
Martin Fornusek
