In a new development regarding the Russia-Ukraine war, US President Donald Trump expressed hope that Russia and Ukraine could reach a peace agreement this week, pledging "thriving" trade relations with the United States to both sides if a truce is reached.

Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform on Sunday that he hopes Moscow and Kyiv will strike a deal to end the war, without providing details on any progress in the ongoing talks.

He stressed that the United States may shift its focus to other priorities if an agreement is not reached "soon," emphasizing that ending the war has been a foreign policy priority since assuming the presidency for a second, non-consecutive term, succeeding Joe Biden last January.

On the ground, Russia and Ukraine traded accusations of violating the Easter truce declared by Russian President Vladimir Putin and approved by his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Zelenskyy described the truce as having been "violated more than 2,000 times," but noted that there were no Russian airstrikes during the daytime hours.

The Ukrainian president proposed extending the ceasefire by halting long-range drone and missile strikes on civilian facilities for a period of no less than 30 days.

For his part, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov clarified that the Russian president had not issued any decision regarding extending the ceasefire, which was scheduled to expire at 21:00 GMT.

On the ground, clashes escalated, with Ukraine accusing the Russian military of launching attacks on the Pokrovsk and Seversk regions on the eastern front, and using heavy weapons despite the declared truce.

In contrast, the Russian Ministry of Defense reported that Ukrainian forces attempted to attack Russian positions in the Sukhaya Balka and Bogatyr areas of the Donetsk People's Republic, noting that these attempts failed.

It also announced Ukrainian attacks targeting Russian border areas in Bryansk, Kursk, and Belgorod, resulting in civilian deaths and injuries, according to a ministry statement.

These rapid developments and mutual accusations reflect the difficulty of imposing a true truce, even a temporary one, amid a war entering its fourth year and continuing to claim lives and cause widespread destruction on both sides of the front.