Russia, Ukraine agree to 3

Russia, Ukraine agree to 3-day ceasefire and prisoner swap announced by Trump

Ukraine's Zelenskyy confirms 2 sides to exchange 1,000 prisoners of war

Russia and Ukraine confirmed on Friday that they had agreed to a U.S.-brokered three-day ceasefire that will run from May 9 to May 11, and U.S. President Donald Trump said he hoped it ‌would be extended.

Trump's announcement of the temporary ceasefire on Truth Social earlier in the day also ‌said each country, locked in more than four years of conflict, would exchange 1,000 prisoners of war.

"I'd like to see a big extension," Trump told reporters on Friday evening. "It could be."

Both Kyiv and Moscow have accused the other of violating ceasefires declared separately this week as Russia readies to hold a Victory Day parade on May 9, marking the Soviet Union's 1945 victory over Nazi Germany.

Trump has grown increasingly frustrated by the lack of progress in ending the Ukraine-Russia war, and a halt in fighting offers a bit of good news for the U.S. president, whose war with Israel against Iran has hurt his domestic approval rating. ​Efforts to end the Iran war, now in its third month, appeared stalled amid new flare-ups in ​fighting in the Gulf.

The Ukraine-Russia ceasefire would include a suspension of all "kinetic activity" and a swap of 1,000 prisoners from each country, Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social.

"This request ​was made directly by me, and I very much appreciate its agreement by President Vladimir Putin ​and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Hopefully, it is the beginning of the end of a very long, deadly, and hard fought War," he wrote.

Trump added that talks were continuing to move toward an end of the war "and we are getting closer and closer every day."

Zelenskyy, writing on Telegram, ​confirmed the ceasefire had been arranged as part of U.S. negotiating efforts and that humanitarian issues remained a key priority.

"That is why ⁠today, within the framework of the negotiation process ⁠mediated by the American side, we received Russia's agreement to conduct a prisoner of ‌war exchange in the format of 1,000 for 1,000," Zelenskyy wrote.

Zelenskyy also issued a tongue-in-cheek decree "allowing" Russia's May 9 military parade to proceed and saying Ukrainian weapons would not target Red Square.

Friday's news followed what Zelenskyy described as substantive talks between U.S. and Ukrainian officials in Miami, with U.S. envoys due to visit ⁠Kyiv in coming months.

Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov, speaking to reporters on Putin's behalf, said Russia had also agreed to Trump's initiative.

"An agreement on this matter was reached during our telephone discussions with the U.S. administration," he said.

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said air defences had intercepted Ukrainian drones headed for the capital over a seven-hour ​period ending around 8 p.m. local time.

Since Trump announced the ceasefire, Moscow has issued one such notice.

Ukraine and Russia have been in a state of all-out war since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine's borders in February 2022.

Trump returned to power in Washington claiming he could end the war in Ukraine in a short period of time. That hasn't happened.

Earlier, Russia and Ukraine had accused each other of violating ⁠ceasefires each had separately declared.

The two sides are still pummeling each other with missiles, drones and artillery, with no end to the war in sight. Peace talks are stalled, with Ukraine rejecting Putin's demand that it surrender territory it has successfully defended since 2022.

Russian strike on kindergarten in northeastern Ukraine kills security guard

Putin had unilaterally declared a two-day ceasefire on Friday and Saturday to cover the Victory ‌Day commemorations — Russia's most revered national holiday.

Kyiv responded that a ceasefire just for the holiday was inappropriate and called instead for an indefinite truce to begin two days earlier, which Moscow ignored.

Russia has warned that any attempt by Ukraine to ⁠disrupt the Red Square parade on Saturday would trigger a massive missile strike on Kyiv. Moscow has told diplomats that if Ukraine did attack the event, they should ⁠evacuate the Ukrainian capital.

This year's parade in Moscow — usually a show of Russian military might with intercontinental ​ballistic missiles and tanks — will have no military equipment ⁠on display.

Melinda Haring, a Ukraine expert and non-resident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council's Eurasia Center, that it appears that Russia is wary of what Ukraine can do with its tools of war.

"The Russians are afraid of Ukrainian drones and long-range missiles interfering in that parade," Haring told French public broadcaster France 24.