Ukraine and Russia have agreed an Oleshky ceasefire in the Russian-occupied town of Oleshky, effective Oct. 27 to allow aid delivery and civilian evacuations, according to the Moscow Times. New peace talks are planned for next month.
The ceasefire was brokered through U.S. first lady Melania Trump, the Moscow Times reported. Russian forces would halt fire from 4 a.m. local time on Oct. 27, according to Chief of Staff Valery Gerasimov, who spoke on the Defense Ministry’s Telegram channel.
Ukraine’s General Staff agreed to observe the ceasefire from the same time and pledged to do everything possible to help Oleshky’s residents, the Moscow Times said.
The White House has put the number of remaining residents at 1,700 to 2,000, down from 24,000 before the war, according to the Moscow Times, which cited the White House.
Negotiators from Ukraine, Russia and the United States agreed to hold technical-level meetings in the first half of November in Abu Dhabi, Zelensky said, as reported by the Moscow Times.
In a separate development, Ukraine and Russia each swapped 270 servicemen in a prisoner exchange on Friday, the Russian Defense Ministry said. Zelensky called it the first swap since August. The source report was cut off mid-sentence on details of the exchange and figures from Ukrainian prosecutors.
The agreement comes after earlier U.S.-headed rounds of talks stalled in February with no significant progress. Russia demands that Ukraine cede all of the eastern Donbas region, while Kyiv rejects giving up land it holds.
Relations between Washington and Kyiv have been strained in recent weeks. Ukraine relies on Starlink, and Ukrainian officials said speed restrictions on the service remained in place, contrary to Trump’s claim that services had been fully restored. Trump also announced a deal letting Russia supply diesel to U.S. and global markets, which Ukraine denounced.
Moscow and Kyiv both accuse each other of blocking supplies to Oleshky, which Ukrainian forces have been trying to retake.
Technical-level talks are planned for the first half of November in Abu Dhabi. A follow-up meeting in Abu Dhabi or Switzerland may follow within a couple of weeks, and a leaders’ meeting is hoped for afterward. Zelensky said much depends on Russia.
The key terms of the ceasefire rest on a single outlet, the Moscow Times, and no independent second source has confirmed them. Details on how evacuation destinations and humanitarian corridor routes will be run have not been given beyond the stated aims, and the status of the Starlink dispute remains unconfirmed.
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This article was written with AI assistance from the published reporting listed above. It is part of the World Brief daily news podcast.