"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.
Smoke rises as Russian warplanes carry out an airstrike on Aleppo University Hospital in Aleppo, Syria on December 01, 2024 (Hatip Idlibi/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Syria's new government pressed Russia for compensation and the correction of "past mistakes" during its first talks with a Kremlin delegation on Jan. 28, following the ouster of Russian-backed dictator Bashar al-Assad in December.
"The dialogue highlighted Russia’s role in rebuilding trust with the Syrian people through compensation, reconstruction, and recovery," a Syrian statement on the talks said.
Russia deployed troops to Syria in 2015 to support the Assad regime's brutal crackdown against anti-government forces. With Moscow's support, Assad's regime was free to imprison, torture, and murder hundreds of thousands of Syrians.
Assad would later flee to Moscow where he now resides.
Russia's delegation, which included Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov and President Vladimir Putin's special envoy for Syria, Alexander Lavrentyev, met with Syria's de facto leader, Ahmad al-Sharaa.
A banner depicting Syrian former President Bashar al-Assad and Russian President Vladimir Putin and reading "Justice Prevails," is displayed along a highway in Damascus, Syria on March 8, 2022. (Louai Beshara / AFP via Getty Images)
Bogdanov reportedly described the talks as constructive, acknowledging the "difficult situation." Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov refused to comment on the report about Syrian demands for compensation, Russian state news agency TASS reported.
Following Assad's ouster and flight to Russia, Moscow began withdrawing military assets, leaving the future of its bases in Tartus and Khmeimim uncertain.
Satellite images revealed that a "large amount" of Russian military equipment disappeared from Tartus after the cargo ship Sparta II's departure, investigative journalist Mark Krutov said on Jan. 27.
Ukraine has also engaged with Syria's new leadership, with Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha visiting Damascus on Dec. 30 to discuss Russia's military presence.
Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Heorhii Tykhyi noted that Kyiv and Damascus share similar views on the issue, though details were not disclosed.
Tim Zadorozhnyy is a news editor at The Kyiv Independent. Based in Warsaw, he is pursuing studies in International Relations, focusing on European Studies. Tim began his career at a local television channel in Odesa. After moving to Warsaw, he joined the Belarusian opposition media outlet NEXTA, starting as a news anchor and later advancing to the position of managing editor.
Chris York
