President Donald Trump of the United States claims that Russia and Ukraine have heeded his personal plea for a 72 hour ceasefire in the battle, with the cessation scheduled between May 9th and May 11th and a prisoner swap agreement with the release of 1,000 prisoners from each side.
President Trump shared the news via Truth Social late Friday in Washington.
The ceasefire, Trump believes, could mark the start of a new phase in the protracted conflict that has dragged on for over four years.
The ceasefire, according to him, will extend to all forms of kinetic activities during the entire window.
“Hopefully, it is the start of the end of a very lengthy, deadly, and bitterly contested War,” President Trump stated in a message.
He added that peace talks are moving closer toward reaching an end to the conflict.
Also Read: Russia warns civilians to flee as Moscow and Ukraine trade rival ceasefire proposals
Zelenskyy confirmed the deal on X shortly afterwards, saying Ukraine had agreed primarily to bring soldiers home from Russian captivity.
‘Red Square is less important to us than the lives of Ukrainian prisoners who can be brought home,’ he wrote, thanking the Trump administration for its mediation and signalling Kyiv would rely on Washington to police the terms.
Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov also said Moscow accepted the results of recent telephone contact between Putin and Trump.
A fragile pause
The deal comes just days ahead of Victory Day celebrations that would celebrate the victory of the Soviet Union over Germany during World War II.
This year’s celebration in Moscow was scaled down as no tanks, missile launchers, and other heavy weaponry were included in the parade due to a lack of resources caused by the war.
There is ample reason to be skeptical that the ceasefire will last long enough.
Russia itself has declared a unilateral halt to fighting on both Friday and Saturday but the truce quickly collapsed due to each side blaming the other for continuing strikes.
A prior ceasefire declared by Ukraine didn’t hold up either.
Drones have become an increasingly important part of the fighting in recent months on both sides of the front line.
