Oleksiy Sorokin

U.S.-mediated peace talks between Russia and Ukraine have stalled as Kyiv refuses to cede territory in the country's east without a fight, a Kremlin demand that officials familiar with the matter say is not opposed by Washington. At the same time, President Volodymyr Zelensky faces scrutiny after offering differing assessments of U.S. readiness to provide security guarantees. Kyiv has insisted that credible security guarantees are necessary to prevent Russia from launching another invasion. Y

A prominent pro-Kremlin blogger known for his aggressive attacks on Russia’s opposition abruptly turned against President Vladimir Putin publishing a series of scathing critiques. A day later, he was allegedly admitted into a psychiatric hospital in St. Petersburg. The blogger, Ilya Remeslo, had built his public profile by targeting the late opposition leader Alexei Navalny and his allies, often filing complaints and supporting legal cases against them. His sudden reversal — and the speed wit

The Kyiv Independent’s Oleksiy Sorokin speaks with Daria Kaleniuk, executive director of Ukraine’s Anti-Corruption Action Center, about the state of Ukraine’s anti-corruption reforms and their impact on the country’s bid to join the European Union.

Two points remain high on Ukraine's agenda: surviving the Russian onslaught and joining the European Union. President Volodymyr Zelensky believes the two should be tied together, with his office proposing to engrave a set date for Ukraine's EU membership in a potential peace deal with Russia. Tom Berendsen, the new Dutch foreign minister, disagrees with this approach. "If you set a date, you need to make sure that you get (everything done before) the date. It needs to be a realistic date," Be

On Feb. 26, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban was feeling adventurous, sending two letters — one to Brussels, another one to Kyiv — with a set of demands. The intended target audience for both, however, were not EU and Ukrainian officials, but the domestic population soon heading to the polls. "Viktor Orban's ominous post is not an open letter to a foreign head of state, but rather a campaign message targeting a domestic audience," Daniel Hegedüs, deputy director at the Institute for Europ

The Kyiv Independent’s Oleksiy Sorokin speaks with Katarina Mathernova, the European Union Ambassador to Ukraine, after Russia's large-scale missile and drone attack on Kyiv during one of the coldest days of the winter, leaving parts of the city without heat and electricity.

Editor’s Note: The Kyiv Independent has made an editorial decision not to edit messages from U.S. President Donald Trump for grammar or clarity. When European officials woke up on Tuesday, U.S. President Donald Trump hadn't gone to bed yet. He was busy attacking European leaders through his social media platform Truth Social. “Shockingly, our ‘brilliant’ NATO Ally, the United Kingdom, is currently planning to give away the Island of Diego Garcia, the site of a vital U.S. Military Base, to Maur

After the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) charged several lawmakers from President Volodymyr Zelensky's party in December, Tymoshenko initiated discussions on regularly offering bribes to some members of parliament in exchange for votes, the NABU alleged.

Parliament failed to appoint former Defense Minister Denys Shmyhal as the country's next energy minister. The nomination failed to gather enough support, stopping 16 votes short. The energy ministry remains without a head for nearly two months, as Kyiv and other Ukrainian regions are facing a dire energy situation, with Russia targeting the country's critical infrastructure. The parliament convenes on Jan. 13 to vote on a proposed government reshuffle initiated by President Volodymyr Zelensky.

The news comes a few hours after Zelensky announced he would appoint Kyrylo Budanov, head of the military intelligence, to take charge of the President’s Office.

Donald Trump’s peace negotiations have seemingly made a full circle. After U.S. pressuring Ukraine to accept an unfavorable peace settlement, Kyiv spent over a month renegotiating the offer and getting close to receiving Trump's blessing on a revised proposal. Then Vladimir Putin called. Twice. A few hours before the second call, on Dec. 29, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that Ukrainian drones had allegedly attempted to strike Putin's state residence with 91 drones in Russia's No

President Volodymyr Zelensky will meet U.S. President Donald Trump on Dec. 28 as part of the latest peace efforts to end Russia's nearly four-year full-scale invasion of Ukraine, a source in Ukraine's Presidential Office said.

After weeks of talks, Ukraine and the U.S. have prepared a draft of the revised peace plan to end Russia’s full-scale war. The initial 28-point plan, which effectively pushed Ukraine toward capitulation, has been reworked into a 20-point framework, which President Volodymyr Zelensky presented to journalists on Dec. 23 for the first time. In addition, a three-party security guarantee draft between Ukraine, the U.S., and Europe has been developed, as well as a bilateral security guarantee agreem

The U.S. is planning new sanctions on Russia’s energy sector to ramp up pressure on Moscow if President Vladimir Putin rejects a peace deal with Ukraine, Bloomberg reported citing sources familiar with the situation.

President Volodymyr Zelensky said that the Russian negotiations position "has not changed yet," and that "they want our Donbas. And we do not want to give away our Donbas." Zelensky's comments to journalists late on Dec. 15 came following yet another round of discussions with the American negotiators, who continue to insist on the Russia-leaning peace offer. A delegation led by Zelensky held two rounds of discussions with U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner on a plan for ending the Rus