ISTANBUL: A three-day ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine proposed by US President Donald Trump ended at 2100 GMT on Monday, Anadolu Agency reported.
Trump on Friday said Moscow and Kyiv had agreed to implement a ceasefire from May 9 to 11, as well as a 1,000-for-1,000 prisoner swap, which he described as a potential step toward ending the war.
“It is hoped that this will be the beginning of the end of a very long, bloody and intense war.”
“Negotiations to end this great conflict, the largest since World War II, are still ongoing and we are getting closer to a solution every day,” Trump said.
The statement was made after US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner met with Ukraine’s chief negotiator Rustem Umerov in Miami to discuss enhanced diplomatic efforts and coordinate further steps towards peace.
On Saturday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said he was ready to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a third country, but only to finalize a peace agreement to end the more than four-year war.
Zelenskyy later said Kyiv had discussed with the United States a possible format for talks with Putin “at the leadership level to end the Russian war” during Umerov’s visit to Miami.
Before Trump’s proposal, Moscow on Monday announced a unilateral ceasefire for May 8-9 to mark the anniversary of the Soviet victory in World War II and warned Ukraine of a “massive” missile response if Victory Day celebrations were disrupted.
Kyiv later announced that it would abide by the ceasefire starting at midnight on May 6.
Both sides subsequently accused each other of violating the ceasefire agreement.
— BERNAMA-ANADOLU
