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.
Polish President Andrzej Duda (L) and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk (R) shake hands during their meeting at the Presidential Palace in Warsaw, Poland, on Jan. 15, 2024, with a portrait of late Polish President Lech Kaczynski seen in the background. (Wojtek Radwanski / AFP via Getty Images)
Polish President Andrzej Duda and Prime Minister Donald Tusk will visit the United States on March 12, the 25th anniversary of Poland's NATO accession, to advocate for continued U.S. military aid to Ukraine.
Both Duda and Tusk will meet with U.S. President Joe Biden in the White House on March 12.
"The leaders will reaffirm their unwavering support for Ukraine's defense against Russia's brutal war of conquest," according to a White House press briefing.
Duda will then meet with top lawmakers in Congress, including Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, House Democratic Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, and Senate Republican Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.
The Senate approved a supplemental funding package after prolonged negotiations and concessions to Republican demands on immigration policy, but Johnson immediately derailed the bill when it came to the House.
House Republicans are now reportedly working on an alternative version of the bill that may include treating some forms of aid to Ukraine as a loan.
With Russian aggression drawing closer to its borders, Poland has pledged to significantly increase the size of its own armed forces. Polish Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak said in September 2023 that he believed Poland would soon amass a force of 300,000 soldiers, making it the largest land army in Europe.
A survey published on Feb. 22 by the Polish media outlet RMF24 revealed that nearly 50% of Poles believe a Russian attack on Poland is "likely."
After his meetings in Washington, Duda will visit the cities of Savannah, Waynesboro, and Fort Stewart in the U.S. state of Georgia on March 13. He will fly to Brussels, Belgium for a meeting with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on March 14.
Maria Yeryoma
