US President Donald Trump has announced a three-day ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia starting Saturday, saying he hoped it could lead to a long-term deal to end the Russia-Ukraine war.
Russia and Ukraine confirmed the ceasefire and a large prisoner swap in separate statements.
Russia had previously announced a two-day unilateral ceasefire to mark its May 9 World War II Victory Day on Saturday. Ukraine previously stated that it too had offered a truce but that this had been ignored by Moscow.
The truce would also include a mutual swap of 1,000 prisoners each, said Trump, who has struggled to end the four-year conflict he once pledged to solve within a day of taking office last year.
“I am pleased to announce that there will be a THREE DAY CEASEFIRE (May 9th, 10th, and 11th) in the War between Russia and Ukraine,” Trump said on his Truth Social network.
“This request was made directly by me, and I very much appreciate its agreement by President Vladimir Putin and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy,” said the US president.
“Hopefully, it is the beginning of the end of a very long, deadly, and hard fought War.”
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Fighting continues
Russia and Ukraine traded attacks on Friday before Trump’s announcement.
Ukraine had previously never said it would abide by Moscow’s call to briefly halt strikes, lambasting Putin for only wanting to pause fighting so he could stage Saturday’s annual military parade on Red Square.
Kiev said Moscow had ignored a Ukrainian proposal to halt fighting earlier this week – a counter-offer for a short-term ceasefire. Zelenskyy had cast it as a test of whether the Kremlin was serious about providing a brief respite in the four-year war.
Russia has threatened a massive strike on the heart of Kiev if Ukraine disrupted the Victory Day parade, repeatedly urging foreign diplomats to leave the Ukrainian capital ahead of time.
Ukrainian officials said there had been no orders for additional security measures to be taken so far.
Ukraine’s air force said Russia had fired 67 drones overnight — the lowest number in almost a month.
