"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.
U.K. Foreign Secretary David Lammy speaks during a joint press conference on Sept. 11, 2024, in Kyiv. (Viktor Kovalchuk/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images)
U.K. Foreign Secretary David Lammy spoke to U.S. Vice President JD Vance on May 2, during which the two leaders discussed Russia's war against Ukraine.
Following intensified efforts to broker a peace settlement to end Russia's war against Ukraine, the U.S. has said it will scale back its role as a mediator. "We are not going to fly around the world at the drop of a hat... that is now between the two parties," State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said on May 1.
Lammy condemned Russian President Vladimir Putin for failing to engage in meaningful talks to end Russia's war against Ukraine.
"Putin has stalled and hampered discussions for long enough. The world is losing patience," Lammy said.
The U.S. and the U.K. are committed to ending Russia's war against Ukraine, Lammy said. Ukraine's allies met in London on April 23, where they discussed reaching a peace settlement.
"(W)e reaffirmed our shared desire for an end to Russia’s barbaric invasion of Ukraine and our commitment to a lasting peace," Lammy said.
Lammy and U.K. Defense Secretary John Healey met with Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha and Defense Minister Rustem Umerov at the London meeting on April 23.
"We are grateful to the U.K. for its leadership and support. We will discuss ways to strengthen Ukraine and guarantee long-term peace and security," Sybiha said.
The Kremlin has shown signs it is unwilling to move forward on a peace deal with Ukraine. Russian authorities have listed maximalist demands in ceasefire negotiations brokered by the U.S.
Putin is insisting that any deal to end Russia's war against Ukraine must include full Russian control of four Ukrainian oblasts that Moscow only partially occupies, three Moscow-based sources familiar with the talks told Bloomberg.
Volodymyr Ivanyshyn is a news editor for The Kyiv Independent. He is pursuing an Honors Bachelor of Arts at the University of Toronto, majoring in political science with a minor in anthropology and human geography. Volodymyr holds a Certificate in Business Fundamentals from Rotman Commerce at the University of Toronto. He previously completed an internship with The Kyiv Independent.
Kateryna Denisova
