Trump announces three-day Ukraine-Russia ceasefire
US President Donald Trump announced on social media that there will be a three-day ceasefire in the war between Russia and Ukraine, from May 9 to May 11, to mark the end of World War II for the Russians.
Trump said that a temporary ceasefire was on the way after his phone call with Putin on April 29. Putin declared a similar ceasefire that lasted three days last year, but an agreement could not be reached with Kiev on this issue.
Trump said in a post on Truth Social that the pause would include the suspension of all kinetic activities as well as a prison swap of 1,000 inmates from each country.
“I hope this is the beginning of the end of a very long, deadly and difficult war,” he said, adding that talks to end the conflict were making steady progress.
Writing on Telegram, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy confirmed the prisoner exchange and said humanitarian issues remain Ukraine’s main priority.
“Therefore, today, within the framework of the negotiation process mediated by the American side, we received from Russia the agreement on the exchange of prisoners of war in the format of 1000 to 1000,” Zelenskiy said. he wrote.
“A ceasefire will be achieved on May 9, 10 and 11.”
Russia declared a ceasefire on May 8-9 to coincide with commemorations of the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany in World War II and a military parade in Moscow’s Red Square.
Ukraine announced an open-ended ceasefire proposal starting at midnight local time on Tuesday, urging Russia to reciprocate.
Ukraine’s chief negotiator Rustam Umerov has arrived in Miami for a series of meetings with U.S. representatives as peace talks to end Russia’s war in Ukraine have stalled in recent months, officials said Thursday.
US-brokered negotiations have reached an impasse over Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region. Moscow demands that Kiev withdraw its troops from the region it failed to capture during its four-year, large-scale occupation. Ukraine says it will not give up the territory it controls.
Moscow and Kyiv accused each other of violating separately declared ceasefires.
