Donald Trump has announced a three-day ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine, with both sides confirming their agreement shortly after the US president made the announcement public.
“This ceasefire will include a suspension of all kinetic activity, and also a prison swap of 1,000 prisoners from each country,” Trump said. He added that he had personally requested the truce and expressed appreciation for its acceptance by both Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky.
The announcement came after a chaotic day in which both countries accused each other of breaking separate unilateral pauses. Putin had declared a ceasefire covering 8 and 9 May, ahead of Russia’s Victory Day celebrations on Saturday. Ukraine had called for an indefinite truce beginning 6 May. Neither held.
The Russian defence ministry said Ukrainian forces continued striking civilian targets in the Kursk and Belgorod border regions, and said its armed forces responded in kind. Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin reported that around 20 drones were downed near the capital within the first two hours of Russia’s own ceasefire window. Ukrainian strikes were also reported on industrial sites in the Perm, Yaroslavl and Rostov regions, as well as in Grozny, and 13 airports in southern Russia suspended operations following drone attacks.
Zelensky posted on Telegram that Ukraine’s positions had been hit more than 140 times in the opening hours of the truce, with over 850 drone strikes recorded. He said Ukraine would “act in kind.”
Russia has warned it would launch a “retaliatory, massive missile strike” on the centre of Kyiv if Moscow is attacked during the parade. Foreign diplomats were advised to leave the Ukrainian capital ahead of 9 May. For the first time in nearly two decades, no military hardware will appear at the Red Square parade, and residents of Moscow and St Petersburg were told to expect disruptions to mobile internet access for security reasons.
On the diplomatic front, European Council President António Costa said the EU saw potential to negotiate directly with Russia on ending the war, with Zelensky’s backing. “We cannot change the geography. We are in Europe, we are neighbours of Russia, and of course we need to talk with them about the future of the security architecture of Europe,” Costa told the Financial Times. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia was open to dialogue but would not initiate contact.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, speaking in Italy, said Washington remained willing to mediate but would not commit time without clear progress. Zelensky said he expected US envoys to arrive in Kyiv within the coming weeks.
