"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.
A view of the Ritz-Carlton hotel where U.S. teams held talks with Ukrainian officials in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on March 23, 2025. (Fayez Nureldine / AFP via Getty Images)
Ukrainian officials remained in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia following their initial meeting with a U.S. delegation on March 23, an unnamed delegation official told the news outlet Suspilne on March 24.
Russian and U.S. delegations met in Saudi Arabia on March 24 following Ukraine's meeting with the U.S. a day earlier. Ukrainian and U.S. officials were reportedly expected to meet again depending on the outcome of the talks with Russia.
Another meeting has been scheduled between the Ukrainian and U.S. delegations, the official said.
Initially, the U.S. planned to hold talks with both Ukraine and Russia on the same day. President Volodymyr Zelensky later said the meeting would take place on March 23, the day before.
The U.S.-Ukraine talks include discussions on territories, demarcation lines, and control of Ukraine's power plant, U.S. President Donald Trump said on March 24.
The teams also discussed a possible ceasefire over attacks on seaports.
"The discussion concerned a mutual ceasefire: we won't attack their (Russian) facilities at sea and rivers, and they won't attack our facilities, our Kherson and Mykolaiv ports, the greater Odesa ports," Presidential Office Advisor Serhii Leshchenko said on March 24.
Defense Minister Rustem Umerov, who led the Ukrainian delegation, said the discussions included military, diplomatic, and energy representatives.
"The conversation was constructive and meaningful — we discussed key issues, including in the energy sector," Umerov wrote on Facebook.
The talks between Russia and the U.S. the following day lasted 12-hours. Journalists were asked to leave the hotel before the closed-door negotiations, Suspilne reported.
Volodymyr Ivanyshyn is a news editor for The Kyiv Independent. He is pursuing an Honors Bachelor of Arts at the University of Toronto, majoring in political science with a minor in anthropology and human geography. Volodymyr holds a Certificate in Business Fundamentals from Rotman Commerce at the University of Toronto. He previously completed an internship with The Kyiv Independent.
The Kyiv Independent
