Zelensky: Russia may offer ceasefire in exchange for lifting sanctions

Russia may raise the issue of a ceasefire in exchange for the lifting of sanctions against certain companies or the return of its banks to SWIFT.

This was reported by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in a telephone interview with Bloomberg.

"I know that they are raising the issue of lifting the SWIFT sanctions so that their banks can operate. For Ukraine, all this is a big risk," Zelensky said.

He noted that Ukraine is currently in limbo awaiting the resumption of trilateral peace talks. Neither Russia nor the United States have sent any relevant signals.

At the same time, the invitation for Trumpʼs envoys Steve Witkoff and David Kushner to visit Kyiv remains in effect, but they have not yet responded, the president added.

In his opinion, the Kremlin is proposing a "ceasefire" on May 9 in order to "calmly" hold a military parade and then resume attacks on Ukraine. Zelensky says that so far Ukraine has not received any messages about the "ceasefire" from either Moscow or Washington.

According to him, Ukraine, like many other countries, commemorates the memory of those who died in World War II on May 8, so it remains unclear what terms for a ceasefire the Russian authorities are considering. Zelensky instructed Ukrainian representatives to contact the United States and clarify the details of the Russian proposal.

At the same time, the president supports genuine ceasefire proposals that help protect civilians and facilitate prisoner exchanges, but he doesnʼt want this to become "tactical deception on the part of the Russian Federation".

• On the evening of April 29, Putin, in a conversation with US President Donald Trump, said that he was ready to declare a ceasefire on May 9.
• Last year, on April 28, Putin also reported a ceasefire from midnight on May 8 to midnight on May 11. Despite this, the Russians continued attacks along the entire front line.

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