*WASHINGTON* – U.S. President Donald Trump announced a three-day ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia from May 9-11, saying he hopes it becomes a step toward a longer peace deal to end the war.
Trump said the truce, announced on Truth Social, was made at his request and agreed to by both President Vladimir Putin and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. It will also include a mutual prisoner swap of 1,000 detainees from each side.
“This request was made directly by me, and I very much appreciate its agreement by President Putin and President Zelenskyy,” Trump posted. “Hopefully, it is the beginning of the end of a very long, deadly, and hard fought War.”
The announcement came after Russia declared a two-day unilateral ceasefire for its May 9 Victory Day commemorations. Ukraine had previously offered its own short-term truce, which Kyiv said Moscow ignored.
Despite the ceasefire announcement, fighting continued on Friday. Ukraine’s air force reported 67 Russian drones overnight, while Russia said it downed over 400 Ukrainian drones, including 100 aimed at Moscow. A Ukrainian drone strike also killed a man and his 15-year-old daughter in Russian-occupied Kherson, according to Moscow-backed officials.
Zelenskyy said Russia had not reduced assault operations and that Ukraine was responding in kind. He also hailed a Ukrainian strike on an oil depot in Yaroslavl, about 200 km northeast of Moscow.
Kyiv had dismissed Russia’s earlier ceasefire as a propaganda move to protect the Victory Day parade in Red Square. Ukraine warned allies against attending and said Putin threatened a “massive strike” on Kyiv if the parade was disrupted.
The war, which began with Russia’s invasion in February 2022, has killed hundreds of thousands of soldiers and civilians. Peace talks have made little progress, and the conflict remains Europe’s worst since World War II.
