"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.
Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) shakes hands with Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev (R) during the signing ceremony at the Kuksaroy Presidential Residence in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, on May 27, 2024. (Contributor/Getty Images)
Tashkent has no intention of joining the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), which includes Russia, Belarus, Armenia, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan, the Moscow Times reported on Oct. 24, citing Akmal Saidov, First Deputy Speaker of the Legislative Chamber of the Uzbek Parliament.
As the full-scale invasion began, several allies started to distance themselves from Moscow to avoid potential economic sanctions, among other reasons.
In mid-October, Kazakhstan announced it would not join the BRICS, where Russia is a founding member. While, in early September, Armenia announced that it had frozen its membership "at all levels" in another Russian-led alliance, the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO).
Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin arrived in Tashkent in August to hold talks with Uzbek officials about potentially joining the EAEU, which Russian President Vladimir Putin has called the new "center of a multipolar world."
Following a meeting with Uzbek Prime Minister Abdulla Aripov, Mishustin promised Tashkent "business benefits," "new markets," and "fair competition."
Despite the Russian promises, a parliamentary commission that studied about a thousand of the EAEU's foundational documents "did not find any benefits for Uzbekistan," Saidov said.
Saidov added that Kazakhstan has not benefited much from its participation in the EAEU either, and thus, it will be "optimal" for Uzbekistan to remain in observer status and maintain its independence and sovereignty.
At the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Uzbekistan declared that it did not recognize the proxy authorities in Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts and supported Ukraine's territorial integrity.
Tashkent continues to actively trade with Moscow, and the Uzbek government maintains close ties with the Russian leadership.
On May 26, Putin arrived in Uzbekistan's capital to discuss strengthening bilateral relations with President Shavkat Mirziyoyev. That visit marked Putin's third international trip since his inauguration for the fifth presidential term, secured in the March election broadly seen as rigged.
Kateryna Hodunova is a News Editor at the Kyiv Independent. She previously worked as a sports journalist in several Ukrainian outlets and was the deputy chief editor at Suspilne Sport. Kateryna covered the 2022 Olympics in Beijing and was included in the Special Mentions list at the AIPS Sport Media Awards. She holds a bachelor's degree in political journalism from Taras Shevchenko University and a master's degree in political science from the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy.
James Beardsworth
