"According to the participants of the performances, their goal is to remind the civilized world of the barbaric actions of Moscow, which for many years and decades has systematically violated international law," a source in Ukraine’s military intelligence agency (HUR) told the Kyiv Independent.
"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.
Photo for illustrative purposes. U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer (L) shakes hands with U.S. President Donald Trump as they meet in the Oval Office at the White House on Feb. 27, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Andrew Harnik / Getty Images)
U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer and U.S. President Donald Trump reaffirmed their commitment to advancing a U.K.-U.S. economic prosperity deal during a call on March 30, agreeing that efforts would continue at pace in the coming days.
Starmer and Trump also emphasized the importance of maintaining "collective pressure" on Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The comment followed Trump's phone call with NBC, where he reportedly said that he is "pissed off and very angry" over Putin's ongoing focus on President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Talking to NBC journalist Kristen Welker, Trump criticized Putin’s latest demand for a transitional government to replace Zelensky, saying that such comments are "not going in the right location."
Trump also warned that he would impose tariffs on Russian oil if he believes Moscow is obstructing progress toward a peace deal.
“If Russia and I are unable to make a deal on stopping the bloodshed in Ukraine, and if I think it was Russia’s fault — which it might not be — but if I think it was Russia’s fault, I am going to put secondary tariffs on oil, on all oil coming out of Russia,” Trump told NBC News.
“That would be that if you buy oil from Russia, you can’t do business in the United States. There will be a 25% tariff on all oil, a 25- to 50-point tariff on all oil.”
Despite the criticism, Trump noted that he maintains “a very good relationship” with Putin and added, “anger dissipates quickly ... if he does the right thing.” He also said he plans to speak with the Russian leader again in the near future.
Olena Goncharova is the Head of North America desk at The Kyiv Independent, where she has previously worked as a development manager and Canadian correspondent. She first joined the Kyiv Post, Ukraine's oldest English-language newspaper, as a staff writer in January 2012 and became the newspaper’s Canadian correspondent in June 2018. She is based in Edmonton, Alberta. Olena has a master’s degree in publishing and editing from the Institute of Journalism in Taras Shevchenko National University in Kyiv. Olena was a 2016 Alfred Friendly Press Partners fellow who worked for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette for six months. The program is administered by the University of Missouri School of Journalism in Columbia.
Natalia Yermak
