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.
US Army soldiers participate in a NATO joint military tactical training exercise with Bulgaria's army at Novo Selo military ground on April 21, 2022. (Nikolay Doychinov /AFP via Getty Images)
The United States has not made a final decision on reducing its military presence in Europe, the Pentagon press office told Polish broadcaster TVP Info on April 8.
"No decision has been made yet," the Pentagon said. "The U.S. commitment to NATO is strong, but the U.S. expects European allies to lead Europe's conventional defense."
The statement follows a report by NBC News that senior U.S. defense officials are considering cutting as much as half of the 20,000 additional troops sent to Europe after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
U.S. forces remain stationed across Poland, Romania, and the Baltic states as part of NATO's deterrence and reassurance posture.
The possible drawdown comes as U.S. President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth press European allies to take greater responsibility for the continent's security.
The U.S. Army Europe and Africa Command announced on April 8 the relocation of American personnel and equipment from Poland's Rzeszow-Jasionka Airport, a key logistics hub for military aid to Ukraine.
The redeployment, which will move assets to other locations in Poland, follows months of planning and is part of a broader strategy to optimize U.S. military operations across the region.
The debate over troops and future U.S. involvement comes as NATO faces growing pressure to raise defense spending. Trump has called for increasing the alliance's benchmark from 2% to 5% of GDP, a target that far exceeds current commitments by most members.
Finland's Defense Minister Antti Hakkanen recently warned that Europe must create a clear, coordinated roadmap with Washington to assume a larger share of the defense burden.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said Trump remains supportive of NATO but expects a "realistic pathway" from allies to reduce dependency on the United States.
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.
Tim Zadorozhnyy
