"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.
A photo of Revolut's Clear Sky debit card. (Revolut/Facebook)
Editor's note: The article was updated with Revolut's statement.
London-based digital bank Revolut has not obtained the required license to conduct banking activities in Ukraine, the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) said in a press release on Feb. 27.
According to Ukrainian banking law, a foreign bank can only operate in Ukraine if it opens a local branch or obtains a banking license. This process must first be approved by the NBU, the bank said in the press release.
Revolut denied any wrongdoing, clarifying that it is merely offering EU accounts to Ukrainian residents on a cross-border basis and that it does not plan to open Ukrainian accounts without further authorization.
"We have previously notified the Ukrainian regulator about our plans in Ukraine, and we will seek a local license in due course and will work closely with the NBU to bring even more innovative financial services to Ukrainians," the banking company said in a statement for the Kyiv Independent on Feb. 28.
Revolut on Feb. 11 began offering Ukrainian residents access to features like instant, free transfers between app users by setting up a European Revolut account.
Revolut said its services for Ukrainian residents were provided by Revolut Bank UAB, a Lithuania-based bank supervised by the European Central Bank and the Bank of Lithuania.
The NBU argues that while this license allows Revolut to operate in EU countries, the fintech company has not applied for a license to operate in Ukraine as required by law.
"We support open competition and financial technology development, but all market players must follow legal and regulatory requirements," the NBU wrote.
The Ukrainian regulator also warned that Revolut customers in Ukraine will not be protected by local laws on financial consumer rights or deposit guarantees.
Revolut is a British multinational neobank and fintech company, co-founded by Ukrainian tech entrepreneur Vlad Yatsenko and Russian-born Nikolai Storonsky, who renounced his Russian citizenship after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The company has also stopped all operations in Russia and Belarus.
The Kyiv Independent
