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.
Russian dictator Vladimir Putin arrives at Beijing Capital International Airport to attend the Third Belt and Road Forum on Oct. 17, 2023. (Parker Song / Pool / AFP via Getty Images)
Russian dictator Vladimir Putin arrived in China on Oct. 17 and is set to hold talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Oct. 18, Reuters reported.
This marks Putin's second trip abroad since the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued a warrant for his arrest over his role in the illegal deportation of Ukrainian children. On Oct. 12, Putin visited Kyrgyzstan to meet with Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov.
Xi invited Putin to attend the third Belt and Road Forum, an international forum highlighting China's global economic influence.
Putin will attend the forum's official opening reception and meet with the leaders of Vietnam, Thailand, Mongolia, and Laos.
On Oct. 18, he will speak at the forum and later meet with Xi for bilateral talks.
According to Alexander Gabuev, director of the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center, China is Russia's economic "lifeline." The visit underscores Russia's growing dependence on Beijing's economic support amid Western sanctions and the high costs of war in Ukraine.
On Oct. 16, Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said that the majority of Russia's drones come from China.
On the same day that Putin meets with Xi, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will visit North Korea. The visit follows reports from the U.S. that Pyongyang has already shipped over 1,000 containers of military equipment and ammunition to Moscow.
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.
Katie Marie Davies
