President Donald Trump said the temporary cease-fire must âultimately build toward a peace agreementâ.
President Donald Trump on May 8 urged Russia and Ukraine to enter into a 30-day unconditional cease-fire while U.S.-led peace negotiations are ongoing.
Trump stated that the temporary cease-fire must âultimately build toward a peace agreementâ between the two nations and warned that the United States would impose sanctions if the cease-fire wasnât respected.
âTalks with Russia/Ukraine continue,â he stated in a Truth Social
post. âHopefully, an acceptable ceasefire will be observed, and both countries will be held accountable for respecting the sanctity of these direct negotiations.â
Trump also said that he would âstay committedâ to ending the war in Ukraine, despite his administration officials having previously
indicated that the United States may abandon mediation efforts if there are no clear signs of progress toward a peace agreement.
âIt can all be done very quickly, and I will be available on a momentâs notice if my services are needed,â the president stated.
âThousands of young soldiers are dying on a weekly basis, and everybody should want it to STOP. I do, and the United States of America does, also.â
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy
told Trump during a May 8 phone call that Ukraine is ready to enter into a temporary cease-fire with Russia and is willing to âengage in talks in any format.â
However, Zelenskyy said that Russia must first demonstrate its readiness to end the war, âstarting with a full, unconditional ceasefire.â This would involve ending missile and drone strikes and halting offensive assaults along the front lines.
âUkraine is ready for a full ceasefire starting right now, from this very momentâa 30-day silence. But it must be real,â he said in a
video address. âThirty days that could become the beginning of years of peace.â
On April 30, the Kremlin
said that Russian President Vladimir Putin remains open to a cease-fire and eventual peaceful settlement to the conflict, but there are still issues need to be resolved.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio has previously
warned that the U.S. government may abandon efforts to mediate an end to the three-year-long war if Russia and Ukraine fail to make a peace agreement.
âI think theyâre closer in general than theyâve been any time in the last three years but itâs still not there,â Rubio said in an interview with NBC News on April 27.
Rubio said that the United States may opt to take measures against those resisting efforts to end the war, but emphasized that it would âprefer not to get to that stage yet because we think it closes the door to diplomacy.â
The war in Ukraine has been ongoing since Putin sent thousands of troops for a full invasion in February 2022. Putin
declared an âEaster truceâ with Ukraine on April 19, directing his forces to halt all military operations until midnight of April 20.
Both sides later
accused each other of violating the truce. The Russian military eventually resumed the âspecial military operationâ after the truce ended.
On April 28, Putin unilaterally
declared a three-day ceasefire from May 8âMay 10 to mark the 80th anniversary of victory over Nazi Germany in World War II. Zelenskyy later dismissed the move as yet âanother attempt at manipulationâ by Russia.
âThe cease-fire should not be just for a few days, only to return to killing afterward,â Zelenskyy said in an April 28
address. âIt must be immediate, full, and unconditional, for at least 30 days, to ensure it is secure and guaranteed. This is the foundation that could lead to real diplomacy.â
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha
alleged that Russia violated the three-day cease-fire 734 times between midnight and midday on May 8, including 464 attacks involving heavy weapons and 176 drone strikes.
The Russian Defense Ministry said that Ukraine, in turn, had carried out 488 attacks on Russian targets and twice tried to break through the border in the Kursk region.
Ryan Morgan and Reuters contributed to this report.
