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.
Peter Szijjarto's announcement came after Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) allegedly dismantled a Hungarian military intelligence network operating in Zakarpattia Oblast.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal meeting in Washington, United States, on April 23, 2025. (Denys Shmyhal/Telegram)
Ukraine and the U.S. agreed to start working on a free trade zone between the two countries, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said on April 23 after meeting U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent in Washington.
Ukraine and the U.S. launched initial talks on a free trade zone back in 2021. Earlier, Shmyhal said that Kyiv seeks to boost bilateral trade and an agreement with the U.S. to allow "everything except for the fixed exceptions."
Ukrainian trade with the U.S. has dropped in recent years, with only $874 million of exports and $3.4 billion of American imports last year. But the knock-on effect could be a global trade war that hits Ukraine too, Oleksandra Myronenko from the Center for Economic Strategy (CES) in Kyiv, told the Kyiv Independent.
In early April, U.S. President Donald Trump imposed a 10% tariff on all Ukrainian goods, except metal products, which had already been subject to a 25% tariff in March.
According to Shmyhal, the parties also discussed "important political aspects" of the long-debated future minerals deal between Kyiv and Washington, which was reaffirmed in a recently signed memorandum. Further details on the ongoing negotiations are expected by April 26.
"Ukraine's government undoubtedly supports the conclusion of an agreement on economic partnership between the American and Ukrainian peoples and the creation of a Reconstruction Investment Fund," the prime minister said.
Shmyhal also called on the U.S. to strengthen energy sanctions against Russia due to the occupation of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant.
Politico reported on April 23, citing undisclosed sources, that the Trump administration is discussing the possible lifting of sanctions on Russia's Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline and other Russian energy assets in Europe.
Kateryna Denisova works as a News Editor at the Kyiv Independent. She previously worked as a news editor at the NV media outlet for four years, covering mainly Ukrainian and international politics. Kateryna holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Taras Shevchenko University of Kyiv. She also was a fellow at journalism schools in the Czech Republic and Germany.
Chris York
