While the Kremlin proposed a ceasefire on May 9, the day Russia celebrates the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Thursday he had asked the United States for details on the Russian proposal.
Published on: 04/30/2026 - 2:07 p.m. Modified on: 04/30/2026 - 6:39 p.m.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Thursday April 30 that he had asked Washington for "details" after the Kremlin announced a proposed ceasefire on May 9, the day Russia celebrated the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany.
Russian President Vladimir Putin made the proposal to stop the fighting on May 9 during a phone call with his American counterpart Donald Trump on Wednesday, according to the Kremlin, which said the American leader had "actively supported this initiative."
Zelensky in response questioned the precise nature of the Russian proposal: "we will clarify what it is exactly: a few hours of security for a parade in Moscow, or something more important."
“Our proposal is a long-term ceasefire,” he said, indicating he wanted to “clarify the details” with the American presidency.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov clarified Thursday that "for the moment, there is talk of Victory Day (May 9, Editor's note), but the precise moment of its entry into force and its cessation will be decided by the president" of Russia.
Ukraine has long called for an extended truce on the front to facilitate negotiations to find a deal to stop the war triggered by Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022, the worst conflict in Europe since World War II.
Moscow refuses, arguing that a broader ceasefire would allow kyiv to strengthen its defenses.
Great shows of force
May 9, the anniversary in Russia of the surrender of Nazi Germany at the end of World War II in 1945, is commemorated each year with large shows of force across the country.
But the military parade on Red Square in Moscow will be in a reduced format this year, without the deployment of military equipment, with the Kremlin justifying this decision by the “terrorist threat” posed by Ukraine.
In the streets of kyiv, Ukrainians interviewed by AFP are skeptical of the Russian proposal.
“If it was a complete ceasefire, then yes. But a partial ceasefire, no, we should not make concessions to them,” said Nadia Maiboroda, a 71-year-old retiree displaced by the Russian invasion.
Vladimir "Putin must show something to his citizens, some sort of accomplishment, and so he wants calm (May 9, Editor's note). But I think: no," she adds, saying "not to trust" the Russians.
Vitaliï, a 26-year-old philologist who did not give his last name, believes that "any ceasefire is always good", but "the question is who will submit to it and how".
Since the start of its offensive in Ukraine more than four years ago, Russia has regularly bombed the entire Ukrainian territory, causing tens of thousands of civilian deaths and millions of refugees.
Drone strikes left two dead on Thursday in the city of Kherson in southern Ukraine and in the Dnipropetrovsk region (central-east), according to local authorities.
Around twenty people were also injured in the southern port city of Odessa in Russian strikes, according to the head of the regional military administration.
In retaliation, kyiv strikes targets in Russia, claiming to target military sites but also hydrocarbon infrastructures in order to reduce the possibility for Moscow to finance its war effort.
Negotiations under American mediation have produced no results and have been at a standstill since the outbreak of war in the Middle East by Israeli-American strikes on Iran.
With AFP
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