Hopes for extension to Ukraine-Russia ceasefire - Trump

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

Mr Trump's announcement of the temporary ceasefire on Truth Social 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," Mr Trump told reporters yesterday evening. "It could be."

Both Ukraine and Russia have accused the other of violating ceasefires declared separately this week as Russia prepares to hold a Victory Day parade today that marks the 1945 Soviet victory over Nazi Germany.

Mr 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 US president, whose war against Iran with Israel 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, Mr 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 Zelensky. Hopefully, it is the beginning of the end of a very long, deadly, and hard fought War," he said in the post.

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

Mr Zelensky, writing on Telegram, confirmed the ceasefire had been arranged as part of US 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," Mr Zelensky wrote.

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

Russia has warned that any attempt by Ukraine to disrupt the Red Square parade would trigger a massive missile strike on Kyiv.

Yesterday's news followed what Mr Zelensky described as substantive talks ⁠between US and Ukrainian officials in Miami, with US envoys due to visit Ukraine in coming months.

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

"An agreement on this matter was reached during our telephone discussions with the US 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 8pm local time (6pm Irish time).

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

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

The two sides have been pummelling each other with missiles, drones and artillery, with no end to the war in sight.

Peace talks are stalled, with Ukraine rejecting Mr Putin's demand that it surrender territory it has successfully defended since 2022.

Separate ⁠ceasefires

Mr Putin had unilaterally declared a two-day ceasefire yesterday and today to cover the Victory Day commemorations - Russia's most revered national holiday.

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

The Soviet Union lost 27 million people in World War II, including many millions in Ukraine, but pushed Nazi forces back to Berlin.

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.

Russia's troops have been fighting in Ukraine for well over four years - longer than the Soviet involvement, from 1941-1945, in what Russians refer to as the Great Patriotic War.

Russia, which controls about 19.4% of Ukraine, has seen its advances slow this year, taking just 700 square km in the first four months of the year, according to ‌pro-Ukrainian maps.