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 President Vladimir Putin speaks at the AO Konar plant in Chelyabinsk, Russia, on Feb. 16, 2024. (Contributor/Getty Images)
Russian President Vladimir Putin said in an interview with state-controlled media on March 13 that he is "ready" to launch nuclear weapons if Western countries, in particular the United States, commit troops to Ukraine.
Russia is prepared for nuclear conflict but is not "rushing towards it," Putin told the Russia-1 television channel and RIA Novosti.
The warning comes a week after French President Emmanuel Macron said the West could not rule out the option of sending troops to Ukraine. His remarks caused international outcry, with many NATO allies clarifying they had no plans to deploy soldiers to Ukraine.
The remarks follow a pattern of Russian aggression aimed at Finland since its entry into the Alliance. Putin is building up a "Leningrad Military District" along the Finnish border, and has said Helsinki is "now going to have problems."
Finland has closed its borders with Russia since fall 2023, accusing Moscow of orchestrating a migrant crisis as part of a "hybrid operation" against Finland.
As Putin issues threats against NATO allies, Norway is leading large-scale NATO military drills in northern Finland, Sweden, and Norway. This is the first time the exercises have included Finland as a member state.
The Nordic Response exercises are part of a large-scale NATO training exercise known as Steadfast Defender 24, which Moscow has attempted to cast as a Western provocation against Russia.
Escalating tensions between Russia and NATO have led some officials to warn of a possible direct military confrontation in the near future.
Putin also told Russian media that negotiating peace terms with Ukraine would be "ridiculous."
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.
Alexander Khrebet
