President Donald Trump lent a hand to Russia’s Vladimir Putin on Friday as he prepares to hold the country’s biggest parade amid plunging morale.
“I am pleased to announce that there will be a THREE DAY CEASEFIRE (May 9th, 10th, and 11th) in the War between Russia and Ukraine,” the 79-year-old president announced, adding that “this request was made directly by me.”
In fact, the request was made last month by Putin, who floated the idea directly to Trump during a phone call on April 29, according to Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov.
The Kremlin had sought a ceasefire exclusively for the country’s annual Victory Day parade on Moscow’s Red Square on May 9, Russia’s most significant holiday, which marks the Soviet Union’s defeat of Nazi Germany.
Ukraine had initially scoffed at the proposal, describing it as political theater meant mostly to sway the U.S. rather than bring about any meaningful change in the war. The country’s foreign minister suggested a full 30-day ceasefire instead of one “just for a parade.”
Ultimately, Putin unilaterally declared a two-day ceasefire earlier this week, covering May 8 and 9. Ukraine said the Kremlin had never bothered to formally propose the ceasefire to leaders in Kyiv, even as Putin was “running around the world’s capitals” and begging other leaders to recognize a timeout from his war so he could have his parade, as Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky put it earlier this week.
Kyiv nonetheless said it would observe a ceasefire starting on May 6, vowing to strike only if Russian forces did so first.
Following Trump’s announcement, both Moscow and Kyiv issued statements in support of the plan voiced by Trump, without mentioning that a ceasefire had already been announced. The Kremlin issued a statement confirming that Trump’s announcement stemmed from his phone call with Putin last month, saying, “We welcome this initiative, which serves as a follow-up to the recent telephone conversation between the Presidents of Russia and the United States.”
The agreement announced by Trump will also involve a prisoner swap between the countries, with 1,000 to be released from each side. He suggested it could be the start of the end of the war and insisted that talks were getting closer “every day” as he has been pushing for an agreement since he took office, with zero success.
Zelensky confirmed the ceasefire would run from May 9-11 in a social media post in which he thanked Trump for his “productive diplomatic involvement.”
He also praised the U.S. negotiators for their role in pushing for the prisoner swap, writing: “Red Square is less important to us than the lives of Ukrainian prisoners who can be brought home. That is why today, within the framework of the negotiating process mediated by the American side, we received Russia’s agreement to conduct a prisoner exchange in the format of 1,000 for 1,000.”
He went on to place the responsibility on Washington for ensuring Putin kept to the agreement, saying: “We expect the United States to ensure that the Russian side fulfills these agreements.”
Trump has repeatedly claimed he was close to brokering a peace between the warring neighbors, while simultaneously suggesting the conflict is not his problem anytime negotiations prove too difficult.
U.S. officials met in Miami this week with a Ukrainian peace delegation, though no real progress has been reported.
“Hopefully, it is the beginning of the end of a very long, deadly, and hard fought War,” Trump added on Truth Social. “Talks are continuing on ending this Major Conflict, the biggest since World War II, and we are getting closer and closer every day.”
