"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.
Finland’s President-elect Alexander Stubb at the Munich Security Conference on Feb. 18, 2024. (Olena Zashko/Kyiv Independent)
Finnish President Alexander Stubb supports expanding the U.N. Security Council, abolishing single-member veto rights, and booting out Russia, he told Reuters on Sept. 18.
The Finnish president said he is ready to call for these reforms during the upcoming U.N. Assembly in New York.
According to Stubb, any council member engaged in an illegal war "such as Russia is in right now in Ukraine" should be suspended.
Russia is among the five permanent members of the council, along with the U.S., the U.K., France, and China. Ten other members are selected on a rotating basis.
Calls for reforming the institution, namely some of its tenets established as part of post-World War II order, mounted after Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Kyiv has accused Moscow of abusing its veto rights to paralyze the council and prevent any united action regarding the war.
Stubb believes that the number of permanent members should be expanded to 10, including one Latin American country, two African countries, and two Asian countries.
The Finnish president also brought up Ukraine's victory plan, which President Volodymyr Zelensky plans to present during his visit to the U.N.
"He has informed us that 90% is already there and the 10% that he will present is what will be needed for him to win this war," Stubb said.
The Nordic politician called on Kyiv's Western partners to lift their restrictions on long-range strikes.
U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, whose country has supplied Ukraine with Storm Shadow long-range missiles, was expected to discuss the matter with U.S. President Joe Biden last week, but no decision has been announced.
Martin Fornusek is a news editor at the Kyiv Independent. He has previously worked as a news content editor at the media company Newsmatics and is a contributor to Euromaidan Press. He was also volunteering as an editor and translator at the Czech-language version of Ukraïner. Martin studied at Masaryk University in Brno, Czechia, holding a bachelor's degree in security studies and history and a master's degree in conflict and democracy studies.
Kateryna Denisova
