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. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan at the signing ceremony for a strategic partnership agreement between their respective nations in Washington, D.C., Jan. 14, 2025. (Screenshot / U.S. State Department)
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan signed a strategic partnership commission charter between the U.S and Armenia on Jan. 14 in Washington, D.C.
The charter establishes a framework for expanded bilateral cooperation between the U.S. and Armenia in the areas of economic cooperation, security and defense, and democracy, among others.
"We are increasingly strong partners, and I think that is for the good of both of our countries as well as the good of the region and beyond," Blinken said at the signing.
The two countries are also preparing to start negotations on an agreement to support Armenia's nuclear energy sector, Blinken said.
"Our relations, based on shared values and mutual interests, have witnessed remarkable growth in recent years," Mirzoyan said.
"They have matured to a point where upgrading them to a strategic partnership is not only fitting but essential for navigating the complex geopolitical landscape."
The strategic partnership marks Armenia's latest pro-Western foreign policy move as it continues to distance itself from Russia, its traditional ally.
Relations between Russia and Armenia deteriorated rapidly after Moscow failed to prevent an Azerbaijani lightning offensive in Nagorno-Karabakh in September 2023.
Abbey Fenbert is a senior news editor at the Kyiv Independent. She is a freelance writer, editor, and playwright with an MFA from Boston University. Abbey served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Ukraine from 2008-2011.
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