"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.
Taliban negotiators Abdul Latif Mansoor (L), Shahabuddin Delawar (C) and Suhail Shaheen (R) attend a press conference in Moscow on July 9, 2021. (Photo by Dimitar Dilkoff/AFP via Getty Images)
Afghanistan became the largest importer of Russian flour in 2024, Russia's state agricultural export agency Agroexport reported on Jan. 10.
The purchases doubled, compared to the previous year, to nearly $80 million.
This surge aligns with Russia’s efforts to strengthen ties with the Taliban government, including recent steps toward officially recognizing the regime.
Afghanistan depends on imported flour due to limited domestic production capacity.
Russia’s overall flour exports reached $300 million in 2024, with China and Turkmenistan also among the top buyers.
Russia has maintained contact with the Taliban-ruled Afghanistan without officially recognizing the new authorities. Russia's Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu visited Afghanistan on Nov. 25, saying that the removal of the Taliban from the list of terrorist groups is in its "final stage."
"Let me confirm our readiness to establish a constructive political dialogue between our countries and among the goals would be providing an impulse for the process of a settlement among Afghans," Shoigu reportedly said.
"We have tried to ensure conditions for a growth in exports of Afghan goods and a growth in foreign investment."
Sonya Bandouil is a North American news editor for The Kyiv Independent. She previously worked in the fields of cybersecurity and translating, and she also edited for various journals in NYC.
Sonya has a Master’s degree in Global Affairs from New York University, and a Bachelor’s degree in Music from the University of Houston, in Texas.
Martin Fornusek
