Trump announces three-day Ukraine-Russia ceasefire starting Saturday

U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Friday a three-day ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia, running from May 9 to 11, along with a mutual swap of 1,000 prisoners from each side. Trump said he hoped the truce would lead to a long-term deal to end the four-year war.

What did Trump announce about the Ukraine-Russia ceasefire?

Trump announced a three-day halt to fighting between Ukraine and Russia covering May 9, 10 and 11. The truce includes a mutual prisoner exchange of 1,000 soldiers each. Trump said both President Vladimir Putin and President Volodymyr Zelensky agreed to the ceasefire at his direct request, and described it as potentially "the beginning of the end" of the war.

Russia had already declared a separate two-day unilateral ceasefire to mark its May 9 World War II Victory Day. Ukraine had previously offered its own short-term truce, which it said Moscow ignored.

Did fighting stop after the ceasefire was announced?

Russia and Ukraine continued to exchange attacks on Friday before Trump's announcement. Despite the declared ceasefire, Zelensky said Russia had not reduced the intensity of its assault operations, adding that Ukraine was responding in kind. Russia said it had shot down more than 400 Ukrainian drones since midnight, including 100 targeting Moscow, and that its forces were responding symmetrically.

Ukraine's air force reported that Russia fired 67 drones overnight, the lowest number in nearly a month. A Ukrainian drone killed a 41-year-old man and his 15-year-old daughter in the Russian-occupied part of Ukraine's Kherson region. Zelensky also hailed a Ukrainian strike on an oil depot in Russia's Yaroslavl region, around 200 kilometers northeast of Moscow.

Some 13 airports in southern Russia were closed after a Ukrainian drone struck an air navigation centre in Rostov-on-Don. Flights were later partially restored. Putin convened a security council meeting over the strike, calling it an act of a terrorist nature that could endanger civil aviation.

Why did Ukraine criticize Russia's original ceasefire offer?

Ukraine dismissed Russia's original temporary truce as a propaganda measure designed to protect Putin's Victory Day parade on May 9, one of the most symbolically important events of his 25-year rule. Kyiv said Moscow had ignored a Ukrainian counter-proposal for a short-term ceasefire earlier in the week. Zelensky framed that offer as a test of whether the Kremlin was serious about halting hostilities.

Hours before Russia's ceasefire began, Zelensky warned Moscow's allies against attending the parade. On the streets of Kyiv, some residents appeared unmoved by Russian threats. "Nothing new will happen," said Vasyl Kobzar, a 40-year-old bank employee. "I'm worried, but it's become routine, unfortunately."

What is different about this year's Victory Day parade?

Military hardware will be absent from Moscow's Victory Day parade for the first time in almost two decades, and only a handful of foreign guests are expected to attend. Putin has made the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany a central pillar of his wartime narrative, repeatedly invoking it to justify the invasion of Ukraine, which began in February 2022.

Hundreds of thousands of soldiers on both sides, and tens of thousands of civilians, most of them in Ukraine, have been killed since Putin ordered the invasion. Talks on ending what has become Europe's worst conflict since World War II have made little progress and have been further overshadowed by the ongoing Iran conflict.