Russia and Ukraine Agree to Three-Day Ceasefire and Major Prisoner Swap, Says Donald Trump

In a significant diplomatic development amid the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, US President Donald Trump announced that Russia and Ukraine have agreed to a temporary three-day ceasefire along with a large-scale prisoner exchange, raising cautious hopes of a possible breakthrough in efforts to reduce hostilities.

Speaking on Friday, Trump said both Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accepted his proposal for a short pause in fighting.

According to Trump, the ceasefire will remain in effect from May 9 to May 11 and will involve a complete halt in military operations during that period.

The agreement will also include the exchange of 1,000 prisoners from each side — one of the largest prisoner swaps since the war began in 2022.

“I asked, and President Putin agreed. President Zelenskyy agreed readily,” Trump said while speaking about the arrangement.

“We have a little period of time where they’re not going to be killing people.”

The US president described the development as a potentially important step toward ending the prolonged and devastating conflict that has claimed thousands of lives, displaced millions, and reshaped global geopolitics over the past several years.

Trump said he hoped the temporary ceasefire could become “the beginning of the end of a very long, deadly and hard-fought war.”

Prisoner exchange seen as key humanitarian step

Ukrainian President Zelenskyy later confirmed the agreement and suggested that humanitarian concerns — particularly the return of prisoners of war — played a major role in Kyiv’s decision to support the temporary truce.

In a message shared on Telegram, Zelenskyy indicated that bringing Ukrainian prisoners home carried greater importance than symbolic military actions during Russia’s Victory Day celebrations.

“Red Square matters less to us than the lives of Ukrainian prisoners of war who can be brought home,” Zelenskyy said.

The ceasefire period coincides with Russia’s annual Victory Day commemorations on May 9, one of the country’s most important national events marking the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany in World War II.

As part of the arrangement, Zelenskyy reportedly signed a decree ensuring that Ukraine would not carry out strikes linked to the celebrations during the agreed pause in fighting.

Russia confirms agreement

The Kremlin also confirmed the arrangement through presidential adviser Yuri Ushakov, signalling rare public alignment between Moscow and Kyiv on at least a temporary de-escalation measure.

The agreement comes at a time when the conflict remains locked in a prolonged and exhausting phase, with heavy fighting continuing across multiple fronts and no comprehensive peace settlement in sight.

Although both sides have previously agreed to temporary humanitarian pauses and localized ceasefires, most of those efforts eventually collapsed, with Moscow and Kyiv repeatedly accusing each other of violating the terms.

As a result, international observers remain cautious about whether the latest ceasefire will hold for the full three-day period.

Diplomatic efforts are still struggling.

Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio acknowledged that broader negotiations aimed at ending the war altogether have so far failed to produce meaningful progress.

“While we’re prepared to play whatever role we can… those efforts have stagnated,” Rubio said, reflecting growing frustration among international mediators trying to broker a longer-term peace agreement.

The Russia-Ukraine war began in February 2022 after Moscow launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, triggering Europe’s largest military conflict since World War II.

Since then, the war has caused widespread destruction across Ukrainian cities, strained global energy and food markets, deepened tensions between Russia and Western nations, and led to sweeping sanctions against Moscow.

Despite periodic negotiations and international mediation efforts, both sides remain deeply divided on territorial issues, security guarantees, and the conditions for a permanent ceasefire.

Still, analysts say the latest prisoner exchange and temporary halt in fighting could help create limited diplomatic space for future talks, even if a final settlement remains distant.

For families of prisoners on both sides, however, the agreement represents something more immediate — the possibility of reunion after years of war, captivity,y and uncertainty.