"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.
Jared Leto of Thirty Seconds to Mars performs in concert during the "Seasons Tour" at Germania Insurance Amphitheater on Aug. 30, 2024 in Austin, Texas. (Rick Kern/Getty Images)
Ukraine's Foreign Ministry criticized Jared Leto, a U.S. actor and Thirty Seconds To Mars frontman, for his remarks made at a concert in Belgrade on Oct. 11.
During his performance, Leto asked the audience if there were many Russians among them, which was met withscreams of joy.
The musician subsequently said that he missed Russia and would visit once "all these problems are finished," referring to Moscow's full-scale war on Ukraine.
"We're going to come back to Serbia, we're going to go up to St. Petersburg over Moscow. We're going to drop down to Kyiv. We’re gonna party and hang out with everybody," the singer said.
After the footage of Leto's remarks went viral, he faced backlash from Ukrainians on social media.
The Foreign Ministry said that Leto's "feeling the Russian energy" and his wish to perform in Russia "is an insult to those sacrificing lives to defend freedom."
"There can be no appeasement for Russia when it continues its attempts to solve the 'problem' of Ukraine's very existence," the ministry added.
Leto and his team did not respond to the criticism.
The musician had been performing in Ukraine and Russia before February 2022. After Russia's full-scale invasion, he voiced his support for Ukraine.
In 2013, Leto supported the Revolution of Dignity and later visited Maidan Nezalezhnosti (Independence Square) in Kyiv, where protests took place to pay tribute to the "Heavenly Hundred," the activists killed during the revolution.
Kateryna Denisova works as a News Editor at the Kyiv Independent. She previously worked as a news editor at the NV media outlet for four years, covering mainly Ukrainian and international politics. Kateryna holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Taras Shevchenko University of Kyiv. She also was a fellow at journalism schools in the Czech Republic and Germany.
Abbey Fenbert
