Trump says Russia and Ukraine have agreed to ceasefire : NPR
Key Points:
- President Donald Trump announced a three-day ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement between Russia and Ukraine, calling it a potential "beginning of the end" of the conflict.
- Both Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Russian adviser Yuri Ushakov confirmed the ceasefire, which will run from May 9 to May 11, coinciding with Russia's Victory Day.
- The ceasefire includes a suspension of all hostilities and the exchange of 1,000 prisoners by each side, with Zelenskyy emphasizing the importance of freeing Ukrainian prisoners over the symbolic Victory Day parade.
- Zelenskyy issued a decree authorizing Russia's Victory Day parade and declared Red Square off-limits for Ukrainian strikes during the event, a move Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov dismissed as a "silly joke."
- Despite the ceasefire announcement, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio expressed skepticism about the progress of peace negotiations, stating that U.S. mediation efforts have so far not yielded a fruitful outcome.