Zelenskyi responds to Putin’s proposal for a May 9 ceasefire. Russian drone attacks on Chernihiv and the outskirts of Dnipro cause casualties and destruction. Ukrainians’ trust in the U.S. and European security guarantees in case of a new Russian attack is on decline, a poll finds.
Zelenskyi responds to Putin’s proposal for May 9 ceasefire
Ukraine will seek clarification from U.S. President Donald Trump’s team on details of a Russian proposal for a brief ceasefire on May 9, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi said on Thursday.
“I have instructed our representatives to contact the team of the President of the United States and clarify the details of Russia’s proposal for a short-term ceasefire,” he said in a post to X.
Ukraine seeks peace and engages in diplomacy to end the war, he said, adding: “We will clarify what exactly this is about – a few hours of security for a parade in Moscow, or something more.”
“Our proposal is a long-term ceasefire, reliable and guaranteed security for people, and a lasting peace. Ukraine is ready to work toward this in any dignified and effective format,” Zelenskyi said.
Kremlin adviser Yuri Ushakov said on Wednesday that Russian leader Vladimir Putin told Trump he was ready to declare a temporary ceasefire in honor of Victory Day on May 9.
Trump projected confidence that a resolution to the Russia-Ukraine war would come “relatively quickly” after a phone call with Putin Wednesday that he referred to as a “very good conversation.” “I suggested a little bit of a ceasefire, and I think he might do that,” Trump told reporters.
Russian drone attacks on Chernihiv, outskirts of Dnipro cause casualties, destruction
A Russian drone attack on the outskirts of the city of Dnipro on Thursday killed a woman and injured 18 other people, head of the regional military administration, Oleksandr Hanzha said on social media. Seven people were taken to hospital, one of them in grave condition.
An apartment building, a shop, a building and a number of vehicles belonging to a production facility sustained damage, Hanzha said.
A drone attack on Chernihiv on Thursday injured two people and damaged an administrative building, head of the city’s military administration Dmytro Bryzhynskyi said in a post to social media.
Ukrainians’ trust in U.S., European security guarantees in case of new Russian attack on decline, poll finds
Ukrainians appear to be less trustful of the U.S. and European security guarantees if Russia reinvades the country, a survey conducted by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology between April 20 and April 27 found.
Fifty-two per cent of Ukrainians believe that Europe will support Ukraine if Russia reinvades, a decline from 59 per cent recorded in January 2026.
The share of Ukrainians who don’t believe that Europe will lend a hand to the country, 41 per cent, is up 10 points since January 2026 when it was 31 per cent.
A shift in attitudes toward the U.S. was more drastic, the poll found. While in January 2026, roughly equal shares were confident in and incredulous of U.S. assistance in case of a future Russian invasion, in April 2026, a majority of Ukrainians don’t believe the U.S. will help them.
The share of those who don’t believe the U.S. will help jumped from 40 per cent in January to 57 per cent in April. Twenty-seven per cent hold an opposing viewpoint, a decrease from 39 per cent in January.
There were twice as many respondents who were undecided about their stance on the likely U.S. assistance to Ukraine in the future, 16 per cent, as there were about Europe’s support, 7 per cent.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi told Reuters in an interview released on March 25 that the U.S. is making its offer of security guarantees for a peace deal in Ukraine conditional on Kyiv ceding all of the country’s eastern region of Donbas to Russia.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has accused Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi of lying when he suggested that the United States was conditioning security guarantees for Kyiv with the withdrawal of Ukrainian forces from the Donbas. “That’s a lie… that’s not what he was told,” Rubio said on March 27, responding to a reporter’s question.
Zelenskyi restated to reporters on March 28 that the U.S. is conditioning security guarantees on the war’s end and Ukraine’s withdrawal from Donbas.
