Trump Says Russia and Ukraine Agree to Three-Day Ceasefire and Prisoner Swap

President Donald Trump said Russia and Ukraine agreed to his request for a three-day ceasefire and an exchange of prisoners, with the truce set to run from May 9 through May 11.

“United States President Donald Trump says there will be a three-day ceasefire in the war between Russia and Ukraine”

Al Jazeera

Trump said the ceasefire would include a suspension of all kinetic activity and a prison swap of 1,000 prisoners from each country, and he described it as “the beginning of the end” of the long war.

Al Jazeera

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Yuri Ushakov, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s foreign affairs adviser, both confirmed the agreement, and Zelenskyy said Ukraine’s decision was shaped in part by the prospect of freeing its prisoners.

Trump also said he made the request for the ceasefire “directly” to the two presidents, while the AP reported that earlier unilateral ceasefires had quickly collapsed as both sides blamed each other for continued fighting.

Zelenskyy tied Ukraine’s participation to the prisoner swap, writing on X, “Red Square is less important to us than the lives of Ukrainian prisoners who can be brought home,” and he said he instructed his team to prepare for the exchange without delay.

The Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov dismissed Zelenskyy’s formal decree authorizing Russia to hold the parade as a “silly joke,” while Trump said the ceasefire was reached through a U.S.-mediated process and thanked the American team for diplomatic engagement.

Anadolu Ajansi

Ushakov confirmed the Russian side’s acceptability of the initiative for a ceasefire and prisoner-of-war exchange, and DW reported that Zelenskyy ordered the Ukrainian army not to attack Moscow’s Red Square during the May 9 parade.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio struck a more somber tone, telling reporters that U.S. mediation efforts have not led to a “fruitful outcome” so far, even as he said Washington remained prepared to mediate if circumstances change.

The ceasefire is framed as a short pause to facilitate transfers of prisoners of war, with Trump saying it would suspend all kinetic activity and include a swap of 1,000 prisoners from each country.

“Trump says Russia and Ukraine have agreed to his request for a 3-day ceasefire and a prisoner swap Trump says Russia and Ukraine have agreed to his request for a 3-day ceasefire and a prisoner swap WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Friday that the leaders of Russia and Ukraine have agreed to his request for a three-day ceasefire and an exchange of prisoners, adding that such a halt to hostilities could be the “beginning of the end” of the long war between them”

AP News

The BBC reported that both sides accused the other of violating separate ceasefires declared to cover Victory Day celebrations, and it said Moscow’s mayor reported that the city had been targeted by drones overnight.

The Guardian reported that Zelenskyy later wrote on X that the “principle of symmetry” had been communicated to Russia, and it quoted Zelenskyy saying, “Red Square is less important to us than the lives of Ukrainian prisoners who can be brought home.”

Looking beyond the weekend, AP said talks continue over ending the war that began in February 2022, while DW and the BBC both described ongoing concerns that past truces had unraveled and that negotiations have so far failed to produce a breakthrough.