"I have great hope that an agreement for a ceasefire in Ukraine will be reached this weekend," German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on May 9, shortly before traveling to Kyiv alongside the leaders of France, Poland, and the U.K.
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.
Lawmaker Roman Kostenko is seen during a briefing in the Ukrainian Parliament, Kyiv. (Yevhen Kotenko / Ukrinform/Future Publishing via Getty Images)
Ukraine's parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, could legally suspend martial law if the war with Russia ends by August 2025, Defense Committee Secretary Roman Kostenko said in an interview with New Voice (NV).
President Volodymyr Zelensky first declared martial law and general mobilization on Feb. 24, 2022, when Russia launched its full-scale invasionof Ukraine. The measure has been repeatedly extended since then.
"Regarding martial law, from a legal point of view. The Verkhovna Rada, as it adopted it, can cancel it, even if there are some decisions that require it," Kostenko said.
"I'm not saying that it will. But if we look at it from a legal point of view, if (martial law) is in place by August, it does not mean that it will be in place by August, if the war ends. It can always be canceled — also by a decision of the president and approval of the Verkhovna Rada."
Kostenko's comments come as the United States escalates pressure on Russia and Ukraine to agree on a ceasefire, with U.S. President Donald Trump threatening to "take a pass"on further peace negotiations if either side continues to resist a deal.
Kostenko said that despite Washington's efforts to broker a ceasefire, he does not expect the Trump administration to successfully negotiate a resolution.
"It certainly does not look like the end of the war," he said.
The Verkhovna Rada on April 16 approved the extension of martial law and mobilization for another 90 days, until August 6.
Under martial law, Ukrainian men aged between 18 and 60, with some exceptions, are not allowed to leave the country as they may be called up for military service. Martial law also prevents Ukraine from holding regular parliamentary and presidential elections.
Trump in February denounced Zelensky as a "dictator without elections," echoing the Kremlin's propaganda narrative. Several weeks later he walked back on the statement, criticizing Putin for continuing to attack Zelensky's credibility.
Abbey Fenbert is a senior news editor at the Kyiv Independent. She is a freelance writer, editor, and playwright with an MFA from Boston University. Abbey served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Ukraine from 2008-2011.
Andrea Januta
