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.
French President Emmanuel Macron speaks during a press conference at the end of the international conference aimed at strengthening Western support for Ukraine, at the Elysee presidential palace in Paris, on February 26, 2024. (Gonzalo Fuentes/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
Europe needs a "massive defense plan" to face the growing threat from Russia, French President Emmanuel Macron said in a wide-ranging social media live feed on Feb. 20.
Macron's remarks come ahead of his planned visit to Washington, D.C., where the French president is set to meet next week with U.S. President Donald Trump to discuss peace negotiationsin Ukraine.
"I'm going to tell him (Trump) 'You can't be weak with (Russian) President (Vladimir) Putin. That's not who you are, it's not your trademark, it's not in your interest,'" Macron said on Feb. 20.
Macron has been rallying European leaders in recent days to discuss European and Ukrainian security in the wake of shifting U.S. policy towards Russia. U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer will join Macron in Washington and will also speak with Trump in a separate meeting.
In his Feb. 20 remarks, Macron slammed Russiaas a "dangerous military power that has become imperialist." He said Russia had "globalized" the war in Ukraine by bringing in North Korean troops, and said a worldwide conflict was not off the table.
Macron called on Europe to come together to create a "massive defense plan" for the continent.
Europe is not likely to form a common army, Macron clarified, but can work to create joint defense capabilities and autonomy from the U.S.
Regarding Ukraine, France is open to providing Kyiv with security guarantees, including deploying peacekeeping forces to monitor a potential ceasefire.
"I have not decided to send troops to Ukraine tomorrow, no," Macron added. "What we are considering instead is sending forces to guarantee peace once it has been negotiated."
In partnership with the U.K., France is ready to consider sending experts or even a limited number of troops beyond the front line to demonstrate solidarity and help Ukraine defend itself, Macron said.
Supporting NATO membership for Ukraine is among a number of ways France is ready to support Ukraine in its battle against Russia's aggression, he added.
While Macron on Feb. 18 said he would not send combat troops to Ukraine, the French president has been at the forefront of calls to deploy European peacekeepers to monitor a ceasefire.
The U.K. is reportedly going to pitch Trump a plan to deploy 30,000 peacekeepers to Ukraine as a post-ceasefire security guarantee. Trump has said he wants Europe to take over the responsibility of funding and monitoring Ukraine's defense.
Elsa Court
