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.
Moscow and Washington discuss the potential resumption of Russian gas supplies to Europe, among other issues related to the peaceful settlement of Russia's war in Ukraine, Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov confirmed to the Russian state-run Interfax news agency.
An Iranian Sejjil solid-fueled medium-range ballistic missile is being displayed at the Azadi (Freedom) square in western Tehran during a rally to mark the 45th anniversary of the victory of Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution, on Feb. 11, 2024. (Morteza Nikoubazl/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Iran and the United States have agreed to begin drafting a framework for a potential nuclear agreement, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi announced on April 19 following four hours of indirect talks in Rome. A U.S. official confirmed the development to Reuters, describing the talks as having made "very good progress."
Araqchi and U.S. Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff engaged through an Omani mediator who relayed messages between them. "We were able to make some progress on a number of principles and goals, and ultimately reached a better understanding," Araqchi said on Iranian state television, according to Reuters. "It was agreed that negotiations will continue and move into the next phase, in which expert-level meetings will begin on Wednesday in Oman."
Araqchi added that top negotiators would reconvene in Oman next Saturday to "review the experts' work and assess how closely it aligns with the principles of a potential agreement." He described the atmosphere of the talks as constructive but urged caution. "We cannot say for certain that we are optimistic. We are acting very cautiously. There is no reason either to be overly pessimistic."
"Today, in Rome over four hours in our second round of talks, we made very good progress in our direct and indirect discussions," the official said. U.S. President Donald Trump, who withdrew from the 2015 nuclear deal in 2018 during his first term, has warned that he may take military action unless Tehran swiftly agrees to a new deal that would prevent it from developing a nuclear weapon.
"They can’t have a nuclear weapon. I want Iran to be great and prosperous and terrific," Trump told reporters on April 18.
Iran insists its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes and has expressed willingness to accept limited restrictions in exchange for the lifting of sanctions. However, a senior Iranian official said Tehran would not agree to dismantle its centrifuges, halt enrichment entirely, or reduce its uranium stockpile below 2015 levels.
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.
Ibrahim Al-Marashi
