"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.
Russian President Vladimir Putin delivers a speech to the graduates of military schools at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, on June 21, 2023. (Egor Aleev/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
Russian President Vladimir Putin asked Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, for a controlled retaliation against Israel, Reuters reported on Aug. 6, citing two senior Iranian officials.
Russia's National Security Council Secretary and former Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu visited Tehran on Aug. 5 as the country allegedly prepares for a military response to Israel for the assassination of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh on Iranian soil on July 31.
The New York Times (NYT) reported on Aug. 5 that Iran had requested modern air defense systems from Russia amid the heightened tensions. The two sources told Reuters that Iran has also asked for Sukhoi Su-35 fighter jets.
Iranian state television showed Shoigu and the commander of the Iranian Armed Forces, Brigadier General Mohammad Bagheri greeting each other, meeting face-to-face, and then participating in a larger meeting at the negotiating table with members of the Russian delegation and Iranian military officials.
"We are ready for full cooperation with Iran on regional issues," Shoigu reportedly said.
Bagheri also told Shoigu that the relationship between their nations was "deep, long-term, and strategic" and would only expand under Iran's new government, according to Iranian state media.
Iran is one of Russia's closest allies on the international stage. The two countries have deepened their military and political cooperation since the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Ana Palacio
