"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.
Alexander Stubb, Finland's president, during a panel discussion at the Munich Security Conference in Munich, Germany, on Sunday, Feb. 16, 2025. Europe's leaders and military officials are convening at conference as the continent wakes up to the idea that it needs to defend itself. (Alex Kraus/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Finnish President Alexander Stubb has emphasized that Ukraine’s membership in the European Union and NATO is non-negotiable, adding that these alliances are essential for ensuring the country’s sovereignty and security.
Speaking at the Munich Security Conference on Feb. 16, Stubb outlined a three-stage process that he believes Ukraine must go through to achieve peace, highlighting the importance of continued Western support.
The first stage, according to Stubb, involves initial negotiations where Ukraine should receive military aid and increased international pressure must be applied on Russia. This would include expanded sanctions and asset freezes. He noted that during this phase, the United States may propose temporary security guarantees for Ukraine, but the timeline for these discussions remains unclear.
Stubb described the second stage as a ceasefire, stressing that this would not mark the beginning of a peace process but rather serve as an interim measure. He suggested that a ceasefire should include border demarcation, international monitoring, and humanitarian agreements such as prisoner exchanges and the return of kidnapped Ukrainian children. Additionally, he argued that if Russia were to launch another attack, Ukraine should immediately be granted NATO membership as a deterrent.
Drawing on Finland’s own historical experience, Stubb stressed that any resolution must uphold Ukraine’s independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity. He recalled how Finland, despite maintaining its sovereignty after World War II, was forced to cede some territory and accept foreign policy restrictions. In Ukraine’s case, he made it clear that no such compromises should be made on its future alliances.
Stubb added that full recognition of Ukraine as a sovereign European state, backed by security guarantees and NATO integration, must be the end goal of any diplomatic efforts.
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.
Asami Terajima
