President Trump said Ukraine and Russia have agreed to a three-day ceasefire that will begin Saturday and carry through Monday, a move he said could be the “beginning of the end” of the war that has raged for more than four years.
Mr. Trump said Friday the ceasefire will include the suspension of hostilities and a swap of 1,000 prisoners from each country. He thanked Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for reaching the agreement.
“Hopefully it is the beginning of the end of a very long, deadly and hard fought war,” Mr. Trump wrote on Truth Social. “Talks are continuing on ending this major conflict, the biggest since World War II and we are getting closer and closer every day.”
The temporary ceasefire is to mark the anniversary of the end of World War II, with Mr. Trump saying that both countries played a role in the Allied victories. May 9 is Victory Day in Russia, which marks the Soviet Union’s part in defeating Nazi Germany.
Last year, Moscow announced a similar truce that lasted three days but was not agreed upon with Kyiv.
Mr. Trump told reporters last week that he had discussed a potential ceasefire in a phone call with Mr. Putin. He said that his Russian counterpart offered to help on the issue of Iran’s enriched uranium, a key obstacle to ending the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran. But Mr. Trump said he told Mr. Putin that he’d rather have him end the war in Ukraine.
“I said, ’Before you help me, I want to end your war,” Mr. Trump said.
The announcement comes as top U.S. officials met this week with Ukrainian representatives in Miami.
Russia this year will not showcase its military equipment such as tanks, missiles and other military equipment, which it has traditionally done during Victory Day parades. Other parades around the country were also scaled back out of security concerns.
Russia’s Defense Ministry issued a statement this week that it hopes Ukraine will “follow suit” on the ceasefire and threatened to strike back if Kyiv tries to disrupt its Victory Day celebrations. It also warned civilians in Kyiv of the need to “leave the city promptly.”
