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.
Kirill Dmitriev, head of Russia's sovereign wealth fund, speaks to a media member on the sidelines of the US-Russia meeting at Riyadh's Diriyah Palace on February 18, 2025. (Evelyn Hockstein / POOL / AFP)
The U.S. is waiting for Russian negotiator Kirill Dmitriev to report to Russian President Vladimir Putin before taking any next steps in peace talks, Bloomberg reported on April 4, citing a person familiar with the discussions.
Dmitriev met with U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff in Washington this week. His visit came as Trump threatened to impose secondary oil tariffs on Russia as he grows frustrated with the stalled talks to end Russia's war in Ukraine.
Trump also announced a 10% baseline tariff on nearly all imports into the country on April 2. Russia and Belarus were not included on the list as the White House says that any "meaningful trade" with these countries is non-existent due to existing sanctions.
U.S. officials are growing increasingly frustrated with Moscow's slowness in negotiations, Bloomberg reported.
What appeared to be a breakthrough last week on a partial truce in the Black Sea quickly evaporated after Russian officials said it was contingent on sanctions relief. This claim contradicted a U.S. statement that outlined the parameters of the agreement.
Following his visit, Dmitriev praised the administration under Trump for its constructive and respectful dialogue with Russia and said the two nations plan to restore and deepen their ties, including further economic cooperation.
Dmitriev played a role in backchannel diplomacy between Moscow and Trump when he was first elected in 2016.
The official was then appointed by Putin as his representative for foreign economic relations and was involved in early U.S.-Russian negotiations in Riyadh in February.
Kateryna Hodunova is a News Editor at the Kyiv Independent. She previously worked as a sports journalist in several Ukrainian outlets and was the deputy chief editor at Suspilne Sport. Kateryna covered the 2022 Olympics in Beijing and was included in the Special Mentions list at the AIPS Sport Media Awards. She holds a bachelor's degree in political journalism from Taras Shevchenko University and a master's degree in political science from the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy.
Dominic Culverwell
