Trump says Ukraine, Russia agree to 3-day ceasefire over Victory Day weekend – National
US President Donald Trump said on Friday that the leaders of Russia and Ukraine had agreed to his request for a three-day ceasefire and a prisoner exchange, adding that such a ceasefire would be the “beginning of the end” of the long war between them.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Kremlin foreign affairs adviser Yuri Ushakov both confirmed the deal.
Trump announced on social media that the cease-fire will run from Saturday until Monday. Saturday is Victory Day in Russia, a holiday commemorating the victory over Nazi Germany in World War II.
“I am pleased to announce that there will be a THREE-DAY Ceasefire (May 9, 10, and 11) in the War between Russia and Ukraine,” Trump wrote. “Russia’s celebration is Victory Day but, likewise, in Ukraine, because it was also a big part of World War II.”
The Republican president said the ceasefire includes the suspension of all kinetic operations and the exchange of 1,000 prisoners in each country.
Russia announced a ceasefire on Friday and Saturday, but tensions quickly flared, with both sides accusing the other of continuing the war, just as they did when a Ukrainian ceasefire agreement collapsed earlier in the week.
Trump said he made his request for termination “directly” to the two presidents. “Hopefully, it is the beginning of the end of a long, deadly, and hard-fought War,” he said.
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Trump added that talks are ongoing about ending the war that began in February 2022 “and we’re getting closer every day.”
Trump has been going back and forth on whether the war will ever end, sometimes expressing hope and sometimes saying that Russia and Ukraine should be left to fight to the bitter end.
Zelenskyy said Ukraine’s decision on how to engage in those talks was shaped in part by the hope of freeing its prisoners. Ukraine has made the return of prisoners of war a central demand throughout the conflict.
“Red Square is less important to us than the lives of Ukrainian prisoners of war who cannot be sent home,” Zelenskyy wrote in Telegram. Red Square is where Russia holds its traditional military parade to celebrate Victory Day, one of the biggest holidays of the year.
After issuing his statement, Zelenskyy issued an official presidential decree “authorizing” Russia to hold the demonstration, declaring that Red Square is off-limits to Ukrainian strikes during the event. The staging of the announcement appeared to be designed to emphasize Kyiv’s claim that it holds direct and effective access over the Russian capital, while publicly binding Ukraine to cease-fire terms.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov later dismissed Zelenskyy’s announcement as a “ridiculous joke.”
“We don’t need anyone’s permission to be proud of our Victory Day,” Peskov told reporters.
Zelenskyy said the agreement to end the war was reached through a negotiated process with the US and thanked Trump and the American delegation for what he called successful diplomatic negotiations. He said Ukraine expects Washington to hold Russia in line with the terms of the agreement.
“We are counting on the United States to ensure that Russia fulfills its obligations,” Zelenskyy said.
Zelenskyy said he ordered his team to prepare everything necessary for a replacement without delay.
Trump’s announcement came hours after Secretary of State Marco Rubio sounded the alarm about talks to end Russia’s four-year war in Ukraine, saying US mediation efforts have not led to a “fruitful outcome” so far.
“While we are willing to play any role we can to reach a peaceful diplomatic resolution, unfortunately at this point, those efforts have stalled,” Rubio told reporters at the end of a visit to Rome and the Vatican. “But we’re always ready if those conditions change.”
Associated Press writers Hanna Arhirova in Kyiv and Giada Zampano in Rome contributed to this report.
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