‘All dynamic activities suspended’: Trump announces three-day Russia-Ukraine ceasefire, 1,000 prisoner exchanges

U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday announced a three-day ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine starting on Saturday, expressing hope that the temporary truce would pave the way for a long-term deal to end the war.Trump said the ceasefire will last from May 9 to 11, and the two sides will also exchange 1,000 prisoners. The news comes as the US president continues his efforts to end the conflict, which is now in its fourth year.“I am pleased to announce that there will be a three-day ceasefire in the war between Russia and Ukraine (May 9, 10 and 11),” Trump wrote on his Truth social platform.“This request was made directly by me and I am very grateful to President Vladimir Putin and President Volodymyr Zelensky for agreeing,” he added.“Hopefully this is the beginning of the end of a long, deadly and difficult war.”Previously, Russia had announced a unilateral ceasefire related to the Victory Day commemorations on May 9. Ukraine earlier said Moscow ignored a short-term ceasefire offer from Kiev earlier this week.Despite the ceasefire, fighting continued on Friday with both sides attacking each other. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Moscow of continuing its attacks despite declaring a truce.“Despite the ceasefire announcement, the enemy has not reduced the intensity of its offensive operations,” Zelensky said, adding that Ukraine was responding “in the same way.”The Russian Defense Ministry said more than 400 Ukrainian drones had been intercepted since midnight, about 100 of them targeting Moscow, adding that Russian forces were “responding symmetrically”.A Ukrainian drone strike killed a 41-year-old man and his 15-year-old daughter in the Russian-occupied Kherson region, according to Moscow-backed officials.The Ukrainian Air Force said Russia launched 67 drones at night, the lowest number of drone attacks in the past month.Before announcing the ceasefire, Kiev dismissed Russia’s proposal for a temporary truce, arguing it was an attempt to maintain calm during the annual Victory Day parade in Moscow’s Red Square. Zelensky also warned foreign leaders not to attend the event.Russia has threatened a massive attack on Kiev if Ukraine disrupts the military parade and urged foreign diplomats to leave the Ukrainian capital early.On the streets of Kyiv, residents reacted cautiously to the warnings. “Nothing new will happen,” bank employee Vasyl Kobzar, 40, told AFP. “I’m worried, but unfortunately this has become the norm.”An anonymous Ukrainian lawmaker told AFP that authorities had not yet taken additional security measures. “We’re just giving (the Russians) a middle finger,” the congressman said.Meanwhile, Zelensky praised Ukraine’s attack on an oil depot in Russia’s Yaroslavl region, northeast of Moscow. The Russian Transport Ministry also said that 13 airports in southern Russia were temporarily closed after a Ukrainian drone attacked an air navigation center in Rostov-on-Don. Flights were later partially resumed.Russian President Vladimir Putin chaired a Security Council meeting after the attack and described it as an “act of a terrorist nature” that endangered civil aviation.The war, launched after Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, has killed hundreds of thousands of soldiers and civilians, mostly in Ukraine. Diplomatic efforts to end Europe’s worst conflict since World War II have made little progress in recent months.