The US president said both sides had agreed to halt fighting from May 9 to 11 and to exchange 1,000 prisoners each. The announcement comes as both sides reported new strikes. Follow DW for more.
"This Ceasefire will include a suspension of all kinetic activity, and also a prison swap of 1,000 prisoners from each Country," he wrote on his Truth Social platform.
Trump said he had made the request for a halt in fighting, and that Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had agreed.
"Hopefully, it is the beginning of the end of a very long, deadly, and hard fought War," Trump said, adding that "talks are continuing." Moscow and Kyiv had announced their own unilateral ceasefires, but each side also accused the other of breaching the truces.
US-led efforts to broker a peace agreement have long been stalled.
At the same time, Rubio said the US does not want to waste time if no progress is made.
Earlier today, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he expected US envoys to visit Kyiv in the coming weeks in a bid to restart the negotiations over ending the war, which started with Russia's full-scale invasion into the country in February 2022.
Russian President Vladimir Putin's press secretary, Dmitry Peskov, explained that no military hardware would be used in the celebrations because of the "terrorist threat" from Ukraine.
In some regions of Russia, the Victory Day celebrations have been canceled entirely.
More on the reasons behind Russia's scaled-back parade: Why Russia has scaled back May 9 Victory Parade https://p.dw.com/p/5DU8T Skip next section US envoys to visit Ukraine, Zelenskyy says 05/08/2026 May 8, 2026 US envoys to visit Ukraine, Zelenskyy says Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that he expected US envoys sent by President Donald Trump to visit Kyiv in a bid to restart efforts on bringing the war to an end.
"We are coordinating the schedule of necessary visits and expect representatives of the American President at the turn of spring-summer," Zelenskyy posted on social media, adding that he hopes that this round of talks would lead to "activating diplomacy." The US-led negotiations have so far failed to bring about a breakthrough which would end the war launched by Russia on Ukraine, despite holding several rounds of talks.
According to the WHO, about 80% of the attacks have been on outpatient clinics, hospitals and other health institutions, with the remaining 20% of the strikes being on ambulances and other health-related vehicles.
Hans Kluge, the director of WHO Europe, said every single one of the attacks recorded is a "violation of international humanitarian law," adding such attacks "cannot be normalized." According to the UN, almost 13 million people in Ukraine require humanitarian aid.
Life in Kyiv: Working through war and blackouts To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video https://p.dw.com/p/5DTjT Skip next section Fire near Chernobyl due to crashed drone: Ukraine 05/08/2026 May 8, 2026 Fire near Chernobyl due to crashed drone: Ukraine A drone crash caused a large forest fire within the Chernobyl exclusion zone near the area's defunct nuclear plant, Ukrainian authorities said.
According to the local authorities, radiation levels in the area were within "normal limits," with firefighters being on site to work on containing the fire.
Ukraine has repeatedly blamed Russia for carrying out attacks on its nuclear sites.
The area around the Chernobyl nuclear plant has largely been deserted since the catastrophic meltdown at the plant in April 1986.
Chernobyl radiation fears resurface as Ukraine war drags on To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video https://p.dw.com/p/5DTUb Skip next section Moscow prepares for more subdued Victory Day parade 05/08/2026 May 8, 2026 Moscow prepares for more subdued Victory Day parade Russia will hold its annual victory parade over Nazi Germany in Moscow on Saturday, with the parade expected to be much smaller than in previous years , as tanks and other heavy military equipment being left out due to worries over Ukrainian attacks.
The leaders of two Georgian breakaway republics backed by Russia not recognized by the UN will also be in attendance.
This comes during Moscow's unilateral two-day ceasefire, which Ukraine never agreed to, blaming Russia for only wanting a halt in fighting so that it would be able to celebrate an extravagant Victory Day parade over Nazi Germany in its capital.
According to Russia's Defense Ministry, Ukraine shot hundreds of drones and carried out artillery strikes on the front line.
The threat of Ukrainian attacks also resulted in more than a dozen airports in southern Russia being closed, according to the country's aviation authorities.
Earlier, Russia threatened that any attempt to disrupt the Parade in Moscow will be answered by a heavy attack.
Ukraine criticized Russian leader Vladimir Putin for only announcing the ceasefire so that he would be able to hold the Victory Day Parade over Nazi Germany in Moscow. Zelenskyy also said Russia carried out hundreds of attacks on the front line using short-range drones.
Kyiv said Moscow ignored a Ukrainian counter-proposal to halt fighting earlier this week, Zelensky had cast the Ukrainian proposal as a test of whether the Kremlin was serious about providing a brief respite in the four-year war.
But already on Wednesday, Ukraine said that Russia had shown no will to stop fighting, by attacking Ukrainian cities overnight with more than 100 combat drones and three missiles.
At least 27 people were killed and dozens more injured in Russian strikes across eastern Ukraine late on Tuesday night.
President Zelenskyy said one attack in the city of Poltava was "especially vile" because Russia launched a second missile at the same target when emergency rescuers were working at the scene.
Ukraine accuses Russia of violating truce with drone barrage To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video https://p.dw.com/p/5DSzZ Skip next section Welcome to our coverage 05/08/2026 May 8, 2026 Welcome to our coverage Russia may have unilaterally called a ceasefire in its full-scale war in Ukraine to celebrate its World War Two Victory Day over Nazi Germany, but Ukraine never agreed, and Russia has continued launching missiles and drones throughout the week.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called Russia's announcement "not even a token" of a ceasefire attempt.
Meanwhile, Moscow's Victory Day parade set for Saturday will be held without any military equipment due to worries of Ukrainian strikes, with Russia threatening to strike Ukraine heavily should it disrupt the Parade with attacks.
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Ukraine war: Will the Victory Day ceasefire hold?
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