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.
Lithuanian and U.S. troops participate in the Iron Sword multinational military exercises on November 24, 2016, near Pabrade, Lithuania. (Sean Gallup / Getty Images)
Senior U.S. Defense Department officials are considering withdrawing up to 10,000 troops from Eastern Europe, NBC News reported on April 8, citing six U.S. and European officials briefed on the discussions.
The move would scale back the temporary surge of 20,000 U.S. troops deployed in 2022 to bolster NATO's eastern flank following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
U.S. forces are currently stationed across Poland, Romania, and the Baltic states to deter further Russian aggression and reassure allies bordering in the region.
The potential drawdown comes amid renewed pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth for NATO allies to increase their defense spending and assume more responsibility for Europe's security.
According to NBC, the numbers remain under discussion, but the current proposal would remove as many as half of the additional troops sent after February 2022.
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said earlier that any reduction would be done in close coordination with European allies.
During U.S.-Russia talks in Saudi Arabia, Moscow allegedly demanded a full NATO withdrawal from Eastern Europe as a condition for normalizing relations, the Financial Times reported.
Russia has long accused NATO of threatening its security, citing the alliance's expansion and Ukraine's potential membership as pretexts for its war. President Vladimir Putin has claimed that NATO's presence near Russian borders justifies continued military action.
The debate over U.S. military commitments in Europe comes as NATO faces pressure to raise defense spending targets. Trump has called for increasing the benchmark from 2% to 5% of GDP, far above what most allies currently spend.
Finland's Defense Minister Antti Hakkanen told the Financial Times that European nations must establish a clear plan, in coordination with Washington, to gradually take over more of the continent's defense burden.
However, concerns persist that U.S. support may decline faster than Europe can ramp up its own capabilities.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Trump still supports NATO but expects allies to deliver "a realistic pathway" to reduce reliance on American taxpayers.
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
