WASHINGTON — President Trump said Friday that Ukraine and Russia will embark on a three-day cease-fire that could be the “beginning of the end” of the more than four-year-old war — as both nations pause to celebrate the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany in World War II.
Trump wrote on Truth Social that the truce would last three days, including Saturday, Sunday and Monday.
“This Ceasefire will include a suspension of all kinetic activity, and also a prison swap of 1,000 prisoners from each Country. This request was made directly by me,” Trump wrote.
“Hopefully, it is the beginning of the end of a very long, deadly, and hard fought War. Talks are continuing on ending this Major Conflict, the biggest since World War II, and we are getting closer and closer every day.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced plans for the cease-fire earlier this week, though the dates did not initially align.
Trump has admitted that resolving the Russia-Ukraine conflict is more difficult than he initially hoped, after claiming during the 2024 campaign that he could end it with a single phone call.
Trump has attributed the difficulty to bitter enmity between Putin and Zelensky.
“There’s tremendous hatred between President Putin and President Zelensky, tremendous hatred,” Trump said in March. “I’ve seen it before, but I’ve never seen maybe to this extent. And I think that’s calming down a little bit.”
Zelensky last May rejected a Putin-proposed three-day cease-fire over the same holiday, calling it a “theatrical show” intended to “create a soft atmosphere of an exit from isolation” for Russia.
The mutually agreed upon cease-fire follows Ukraine’s top negotiator, Rustem Umerov, arriving in Miami on Thursday for talks with Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner.
Trump has alternated between turning up the heat on Zelensky and Putin in an attempt to force an end to the war.
Last February, Trump angrily chided Zelensky in the Oval Office for refusing to entertain a cease-fire without “security guarantees” from the US.
“If you could get a ceasefire right now, I tell you you’d take it,” Trump reprimanded his guest, adding over Zelensky’s objections, “You’ll get a ceasefire faster than any agreement.”
Trump and Zelensky later patched up relations, with the Ukrainian leader returning to the White House wearing a suit and tie — ditching his wartime sweatshirt — in a show of respect gushed over by Trump.
Trump also has raged against Putin, calling the dictator “absolutely crazy” last year and applying sanctions against Russian oil in an attempt to pressure the Kremlin.Between 500,000 and 600,000 people have died in the war, according to estimates from the Center for Strategic and International Studies — with frontlines changing little in recent years, with creeping but costly gains by Russia.
