Trump Announces Three-Day Ceasefire Between Russia and Ukraine

SadaNews - US President Donald Trump announced on Friday a ceasefire for 3 days in the war between Russia and Ukraine starting from May 9 to 11.

Trump stated in a post on the "Truth Social" platform that the ceasefire will include a halt to all military activities, in addition to the exchange of one thousand prisoners from each country.

He added, "We hope this will be the beginning of the end of a very long, bloody, and difficult war." He noted that there is ongoing progress in talks to end the conflict.

After the US president initiated the announcement of the agreement between the two sides, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky emphasized that a ceasefire with Russia must be established between May 9 and 11, adding that Kyiv has received Moscow's approval for a large-scale prisoner exchange.

Zelensky further clarified: "We have received Russia's approval to conduct a prisoner exchange in the format of one thousand for one thousand. A ceasefire must also be established on May 9, 10, and 11."

Exchange of Accusations

This comes after Russia and Ukraine exchanged accusations earlier today of violating a two-day ceasefire declared by Moscow to coincide with the anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany.

The Russian Defense Ministry reported that it shot down 264 Ukrainian drones in the early hours of the morning, according to Reuters.

A Russian sniper fires at Ukrainian forces from an unknown location (archival from the Associated Press)

For his part, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin stated that the capital was subjected to an attack.

Russian officials mentioned that the Perm region in the Ural Mountains was also targeted by drone attacks.

More than 140 Strikes

In contrast, the Ukrainian president announced that Russian forces continued to strike Ukrainian positions throughout the night, indicating that Russia, according to him, had not made "even a symbolic attempt to cease fire at the front. "

Zelensky also added that Russia conducted more than 140 strikes on positions at the battlefront in Kyiv by 7 AM local time (04:00 GMT), noting that Russian forces launched 10 assaults overnight and fired more than 850 drone attacks.

He confirmed that his country would respond in kind, stating: "As we did in the last twenty-four hours, Ukraine will respond in kind today as well. We will defend our positions and the lives of our people."

It is worth mentioning that Russia had announced a ceasefire from May 8 to 10, as it celebrates the victory over Nazi Germany and holds a military parade in Moscow.

Russia warned that any Ukrainian attempt to disrupt the celebrations would be met with intensified missile strikes on Kyiv, and it requested that foreign diplomats leave the Ukrainian capital in anticipation of any potential response.

While Zelensky suggested days ago, in response to Moscow's announcement, an open-ended ceasefire starting May 6, he said that Russia violated it. Neither side agreed to the other's proposal.