Trump seeks extension of three-day Russia-Ukraine ceasefire request

U.S. President Donald Trump announced that Russia and Ukraine have agreed to a three-day ceasefire from May 9 to May 11 and a reciprocal exchange of 1,000 prisoners each, a move he said was mediated directly by Washington. According to reporting by the Associated Press, Trump hailed the pause as potentially “the beginning of the end” of the long-running conflict.

Officials in Kyiv and Moscow, including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Kremlin foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov, confirmed the arrangement; Kremlin statements framed the pause around Victory Day commemorations. Zelenskyy emphasized that returning prisoners was a central Ukrainian priority and thanked U.S. mediators for their role in securing the deal.

For markets, a credible temporary halt in hostilities tends to ease near-term geopolitical risk premia. Energy markets and safe-haven assets are particularly sensitive: if the ceasefire holds or is extended, oil prices and European risk premia could ease and risk assets may see some recovery, while a quick breakdown would likely revive volatility and safe-haven flows.

In a broader political context, the U.S. mediation and Trump’s public positioning underscore Washington’s active role in negotiating temporary pauses and exploring longer-term arrangements. Yet durable peace would require agreement on security guarantees, territorial and political issues, and mechanisms to enforce compliance — matters on which Kyiv, Moscow and international partners remain divided.

Market participants and analysts say the immediate outlook hinges on whether the short truce can be lengthened or converted into a longer, enforceable cessation of hostilities. If talks progress and an extension is agreed, energy markets and regional equities may respond positively; absent credible follow-through, investors are likely to price in renewed conflict risk and reposition for volatility.