"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.
Illustrative purposes: President Volodymyr Zelenskyy delivers remarks during the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly at UN headquarters in New York City on Sept. 19, 2023. (Fatih Aktas/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
The United States has prepared its own draft of a United Nations resolution marking the third anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, rivaling Kyiv and European countries' joint statement, Reuters reported on Feb. 21.
The move comes after the U.S. reportedly refused for the first time to co-sponsor the previous draft of the UN resolution, which reaffirms Ukraine's territorial integrity and condemns Moscow's aggression.
The new U.S. resolution mourns the casualties of the "Russia-Ukraine conflict" and "implores a swift end to the conflict," according to a draft obtained by Reuters. It also affirms "that the principal purpose of the United Nations is to maintain international peace and security and to peacefully settle disputes."
The resolution "further urges a lasting peace between Ukraine and Russia."
According to Reuters, Russia has proposed an amendment that edits the text to "implores a swift end to the conflict, including by addressing its root causes, and further urges a lasting peace between Ukraine and Russia."
Russia's envoy to the U.N., Vasily Nebenzya, called the U.S. draft a "good move." He also said the U.S. briefed him on the text before circulating it to the other members of the General Assembly.
Moscow would vote in favor of the U.S. resolution if the General Assembly voted to adopt it, a Russian official told Reuters, speaking on the condition of anonymity.
European diplomats reportedly held a meeting on Feb. 21 to discuss the U.S. draft.
The General Assembly will vote on the resolution on Feb. 24, which marks the third anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. In previous years, the U.S. has co-sponsored resolutions condemning Russian aggression and calling for a just peace.
The upcoming UN vote is considered a key indicator of global support for Ukraine.
The softened language towards Russia reflects a dramatic shift in U.S. rhetoric towards Kyiv and Moscow over the past week. U.S. President Donald Trump has lashed out at President Volodymyr Zelensky, calling him a "dictator" and blaming Ukraine for starting the war.
Trump on Feb. 21 acknowledged that "Russia attacked" Ukraine, but still shifted blame to Zelensky and former U.S. President Joe Biden for not preventing the invasion.
The U.S. also opposed directly calling Russia the "aggressor" in a G7 statement marking the anniversary of the invasion, according to the Financial Times.
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.
Oleg Sukhov
