KYIV, Ukraine (AP) – The U.S. has given Ukraine and Russia a June deadline to reach a deal to end the nearly four-year war, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told reporters saturday, as Russian strikes on Ukrainian energy infrastructure forced nuclear power plants to cut output.
“The Americans are proposing the parties end the war by the beginning of this summer and will probably put pressure on the parties precisely according to this schedule,” Zelenskyy stated.
Zelenskyy said the U.S. proposed holding the next round of trilateral talks in the U.S. next week, likely in Miami. “We confirmed our participation,” he added.
Russia presented the U.S. with a $12 trillion economic proposal, which Zelenskyy referred to as the “Dmitriev package” after Russian envoy Kirill Dmitriev. He noted that bilateral economic deals with the U.S. are part of the broader negotiation process.
Energy Infrastructure Under Attack
Russian strikes on Ukrainian energy infrastructure continued overnight Saturday,with zelenskyy reporting over 400 drones and approximately 40 missiles launched. Targets included the energy grid, generation facilities, and distribution networks, according to Zelenskyy’s post on X.
Ukrenergo, the state energy transmission operator, stated that the attack was the second major strike on energy infrastructure this year, forcing nuclear power plants to reduce output. Eight facilities across eight regions were impacted, the company said in a statement.”Consequently of missile strikes on key high-voltage substations that ensured the output of nuclear power units, all nuclear power plants in the territories under control were forced to reduce their load,” Ukrenergo reported.
The power deficit in Ukraine has “increased significantly” consequently of the attacks, leading to extended hourly power outages across all regions, according to the operator.
Previous U.S.-brokered trilateral talks in Abu Dhabi failed to produce a breakthrough, as both sides maintain mutually exclusive demands. Russia is demanding Ukraine’s withdrawal from the Donbas region, a condition Kyiv has rejected.
“Challenging issues remained difficult. Ukraine once again confirmed its positions on the Donbas issue. ‘we stand where we stand’ is the fairest and most reliable model for a ceasefire today, in our opinion,” Zelenskyy said.
zelenskyy also stated that no agreement was reached regarding the management of the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant and expressed skepticism about a U.S. proposal to establish a free economic zone in the donbas region as a compromise. “I do not know whether this can be implemented, as when we talked about a free economic zone, we had different views on it,” he said.
Negotiators discussed how a ceasefire would be technically monitored, and the U.S. has reaffirmed its commitment to playing a role in that process, Zelenskyy added.
The U.S. has repeatedly proposed a ceasefire banning strikes on energy infrastructure. Ukraine is willing to observe such a pause if Russia commits, but Zelenskyy noted that a previous one-week pause suggested by the U.S. was violated by Moscow after only four days.
“The Americans are proposing the parties end the war by the beginning of this summer and will probably put pressure on the parties precisely according to this schedule,” Zelenskyy said.
President Zelenskyy said the U.S. is pushing for an end to the war by summer, with potential pressure from the Trump administration if the deadline is missed.
- The U.S. is proposing a timeline for ending the war in Ukraine by the beginning of summer.
- Russia has presented the U.S. with a $12 trillion economic proposal.
- Russian strikes continue to target Ukrainian energy infrastructure, causing notable power outages.
- Negotiations remain stalled on key issues like the donbas region and the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant.
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