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 Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff speaks to members of the media at the White House in Washington, DC, on March 6, 2025. (Allison Robbert / Getty Images)
A Kremlin envoy Kirill Dmitriev met with U.S. President Donald Trump's special envoy for the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, in St. Petersburg on April 11, Russian state media TASS reported.
Axios, citing its source, said Witkoff is also expected to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin later in the day. Putin is currently in St. Petersburg for a scheduled meeting on the development of the Russian Navy, according to the Kremlin.
Dmitriev, the Kyiv-born head of Russia's sovereign wealth fund, was appointed by Putin as special envoy for economic affairs to lead Moscow's outreach to the Trump administration.
The talks come as Trump's push for a ceasefire remains deadlocked. Russia has rejected a full 30-day truce agreed upon by Washington and Kyiv in March and continues to violate the partial energy ceasefire that followed.
Trump, who initially avoided criticizing Putin, has since adopted more aggressive language, saying he was "pissed off" and "very angry" over Moscow's continued attacks on Ukraine and Putin's personal hostility toward President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Despite repeated threats of additional sanctions and tariffs, the U.S. has yet to implement new punitive measures against Moscow.
The April 11 meeting follows a second round of diplomatic talks in Istanbul between U.S. and Russian officials focused on embassy operations. The war in Ukraine was not reportedly discussed.
Putin and Witkoff have already met before. Their growing engagement underscores Moscow's interest in using Trump's mediation efforts to reshape its relationship with Washington — potentially trading peace concessions for economic incentives.
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
