Trump Announces Russia-Ukraine Three-Day Ceasefire and 1,000 Prisoner Swap for May 9 Victory Day

Russia and Ukraine agreed to a three-day halt in fighting during Russia’s annual commemoration of the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany in World War II, with the pause beginning Saturday and running through May 9 to May 11.

The deal, announced by U.S. President Donald Trump, included a swap of 1,000 prisoners from each side, and Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said Russia accepted the initiative for a ceasefire and prisoner-of-war exchange.

ABC News

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed the truce and ordered the Ukrainian army not to attack Moscow’s Red Square during the WWII Victory Day parade on May 9, while Trump said the ceasefire would include a suspension of all kinetic activity.

The Washington Post reported the agreement would include a swap of 1,000 prisoners from each side, and the BBC said Trump’s announcement came after both countries accused each other of violating separate ceasefires declared to cover the Victory Day celebrations.

Even as the ceasefire was announced, both sides continued to trade accusations about violations, and the BBC said earlier both sides accused the other of battlefield ceasefire violations.

Trump said he personally requested the three-day truce and “I very much appreciate its agreement by President Vladimir Putin and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy,” while Zelenskyy confirmed Ukraine’s participation and said “That is why today, within the framework of the negotiating process mediated by the American side” Russia’s agreement covered a 1,000-for-1,000 prisoner exchange.

Adnkronos

The BBC reported Russia warned Ukraine not to try to attack the Victory Day parade in Red Square and said its defence ministry threatened a “retaliatory, massive missile strike” on the centre of Kyiv if Moscow was attacked.

In parallel, the DW roundup said Zelenskyy ordered the Ukrainian army not to attack Moscow’s Red Square during the parade and that the area of Red Square would be excluded from the plan for the use of Ukrainian weapons for the duration of the parade.

The truce was framed as a potential opening for further talks, but the sources also described ongoing battlefield pressure and the risk that the pause could collapse like earlier ceasefires.

Politico said the yearslong conflict has seen other pauses quickly fall apart, and it noted that both Russia and Ukraine have accused each other of violating past ceasefire agreements on multiple occasions.

The BBC reported that residents of Moscow and St Petersburg were warned their mobile internet access would be limited for security reasons, and it said celebrations in Moscow would have only leaders of Belarus, Malaysia and Laos, and a few other dignitaries attending.

For Ukraine, the BBC said Zelensky posted on Telegram that there had been more than 140 attacks on Ukrainian positions in the first few hours of the truce and more than 850 drone strikes, while Russia’s defence ministry said Ukraine was also striking civilian targets in border areas of the Kursk and Belgorod regions and added it provided a “mirror response” to the violations.