Putin Proposes Victory Day Ceasefire to Trump; EU Announces Drone Funding for Ukraine

Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed a temporary ceasefire in Ukraine to coincide with Russia's Victory Day on May 9 during a phone call with US President Donald Trump on April 29, 2026, the Kremlin said. Putin's foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov said the call lasted about 90 minutes and that Trump supported the idea of a temporary truce, Ukrainska Pravda reported.

Trump told reporters in the Oval Office: "I suggested a little bit of a ceasefire. And I think he might do that." The Kremlin said the call was held at Moscow's initiative. Ushakov also said Trump told Putin that a deal to end the war in Ukraine was "almost there."

Ukraine has expressed skepticism based on past experience. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said Russia violated a previous ceasefire declared by Putin in May 2025 at least 734 times between midnight and noon on May 8. President Volodymyr Zelensky said on April 21 that Russian troops violated the Easter ceasefire declared by Putin 2,935 times on Sunday.

Separately, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced that the first defense package under the €90 billion loan will focus on drones produced within Ukraine. The first military package is worth approximately €6 billion ($7.05 billion) and will be used to procure drones "from Ukraine, for Ukraine."

King Charles III called for "unyielding resolve" in support of Ukraine during a historic address to a joint session of the US Congress on April 28. "Today, Mr. Speaker, unyielding resolve is needed for the defense of Ukraine and her most courageous people, in order to secure a just and lasting peace," Charles said, drawing a bipartisan standing ovation.

In other developments, Ukraine has sent a formal request to Israel seeking the arrest of the vessel PANORMITIS suspected of transporting stolen Ukrainian grain. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar rejected Ukraine's allegations, claiming Kyiv provided no evidence and relied on "Twitter diplomacy."

Ukrainian naval drones struck the sanctioned tanker Marquise near Tuapse on April 29, hitting its engine area, Ukraine's General Staff reported. The Cameroon-flagged tanker, with a capacity of over 37,000 tons, was drifting without cargo at the time of the strike.

Russia's annual May 9 Victory Day parade on Red Square will be held without columns of military equipment for the first time since 1945, the Russian Ministry of Defense confirmed, citing the "current operational situation."

The US pledged $100 million to repair the Chornobyl radiation shield.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un confirmed that North Korean soldiers fighting for Russia are ordered to kill themselves to avoid capture. Kim praised troops who chose "self-blasting" during a memorial event in Pyongyang for North Korean soldiers killed in the war, presenting them as "heroes who defended the country's honor," Bloomberg reported.