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. President Donald Trump (L) and Russian President Vladimir Putin shake hands during a joint press conference after their summit on July 16, 2018, in Helsinki, Finland. (Chris McGrath / Getty Images)
U.S. and European intelligence data contradict claims made by U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin regarding the alleged encirclement of Ukrainian troops in Russia's Kursk Oblast, Reuters reported on March 20, citing undisclosed sources.
Trump has repeatedly claimed that Ukrainian soldiers have been "surrounded" in Kursk Oblast, an embattled Russian border region where Moscow's forces recently launched a counterattack against a Ukrainian salient.
Ukraine has denied that its troops are surrounded, though it has acknowledged a retreat from the town of Sudzha amid rapid Russian advances.
According to sources who spoke with Reuters, U.S. intelligence agencies, including the CIA, briefed the White House that while Ukrainian troops are facing intense pressure from Russian forces, they are not encircled.
Despite these assessments, Trump has continued to claim otherwise.
Ukraine launched its cross-border incursion into Kursk Oblast in August 2024, initially seizing around 1,300 square kilometers (500 square miles) of Russian territory.
Russian forces, reinforced by North Korean troops, counterattacked earlier this month, regaining significant ground. The Russian advances coincided with the U.S. pausing intelligence and military support for Ukraine, which was later resumed on March 11.
Trump made his comments about the alleged encirclement ahead of a planned call with Putin on March 18, in which the two leaders discussed a possible peace deal for Ukraine.
The call was intended to secure Russia’s agreement to the U.S.-proposed 30-day ceasefire, which Ukraine had already accepted on the condition that Moscow also complied.
On March 13, Putin initially signaled readiness to agree to a ceasefire but followed up with a list of demands, including a halt to foreign military aid and intelligence sharing with Ukraine.
During the call with Trump, Putin once again declined to commit to a full ceasefire but did agree to a limited 30-day halt on energy infrastructure strikes.
Former U.S. National Security Advisor John Bolton criticized Trump’s approach to the war in an interview with the Kyiv Independent, arguing that instead of considering geopolitical or moral factors, Trump is framing U.S. policy toward Russia through the lens of his personal relationship with Putin.
Tim Zadorozhnyy is a news editor at The Kyiv Independent. Based in Warsaw, he is pursuing studies in International Relations, focusing on European Studies. Tim began his career at a local television channel in Odesa. After moving to Warsaw, he joined the Belarusian opposition media outlet NEXTA, starting as a news anchor and later advancing to the position of managing editor.
Martin Fornusek
