Donald Trump ‘hopes’ Russia and Ukraine will sign a peace deal this week.

As the end of Vladimir Putin’s “Easter truce” drew near the US President took to his Truth Social platform last night.

“HOPEFULLY RUSSIA AND UKRAINE WILL MAKE A DEAL THIS WEEK,” he posted.

“BOTH WILL THEN START TO DO BIG BUSINESS WITH THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, WHICH IS THRIVING, AND MAKE A FORTUNE!”

It was the first time he had commented since Putin announced the truce on Saturday. Just a day earlier, Mr Trump had threatened to walk away from peace talks “very shortly” unless a ceasefire was brokered.

The Easter truce expired at 9pm BST last night, with each side accusing the other of repeat violations.

Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky claimed Russia had breached the 30-hour agreement nearly 3,000 times.

This morning, Russia launched 96 drones and three missiles, according to Ukraine’s air force, with damage reported in Kharkiv, Dnipro and Cherkasy.