Zelenskyy says US gave Ukraine and Russia a June deadline to reach deal to end war

The United States has given Ukraine and Russia a June deadline to reach an agreement to end the conflict. war of almost four yearsPresident Volodymyr Zelenskyy told reporters, as Russian attacks on energy infrastructure forced Nuclear power plants will reduce their production. on Saturday.

If the June deadline is missed, the Trump administration will likely pressure both sides to meet it, he added.

“The Americans are proposing that the parties end the war early this summer and will probably put pressure on the parties precisely according to this timetable,” Zelenskyy said, speaking to reporters on Friday. Zelenskyy’s comments were embargoed until Saturday morning.

“And they say they want to do everything by June. And they will do everything possible to end the war. And they want a clear schedule of all events,” he said.

He said the United States proposed holding the next round of trilateral talks next week in his country for the first time, probably in Miami, Zelenskyy said. “We confirm our participation,” he added.

Zelenskyy said Russia presented the United States with a $12 trillion economic proposal, which he called the “Dmitriev package” after Russian envoy Kirill Dmitriev. Bilateral economic agreements with the United States are part of a broader negotiation process.

Russian attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure continued with more than 400 drones and about 40 missiles launched overnight Saturday, Zelenskyy said in a post on X. Targets included the power grid, generation facilities and distribution networks.

Ukrenergo, the state power transmission operator, said the attack was the second massive attack on energy infrastructure since the beginning of the year, forcing nuclear power plants to reduce production. Eight facilities in eight regions were attacked, it said in a statement.

“As a result of missile attacks on key high-voltage substations that ensured the production of nuclear power units, all nuclear power plants in the territories under control were forced to reduce their load,” the statement said.

He said the country’s power deficit has increased “significantly” as a result of the attacks that forced an extension of hourly power cuts in all regions of Ukraine.

The latest deadline follows US-brokered trilateral talks in Abu Dhabi that produced no progress as the warring parties cling to mutually exclusive demands. Russia is pressuring Ukraine to withdraw from Donbas, where fighting remains intense, a condition kyiv says it will never accept.

“Difficult issues remain difficult. Ukraine once again confirmed its position on the Donbas issue. ‘We are where we are’ is the most fair and reliable model for a ceasefire today, in our opinion,” Zelenskyy said. He reiterated that the most challenging issues would be reserved for a trilateral meeting between leaders.

Zelenskyy said no agreement had been reached on managing the Russian-controlled conflict. Zaporozhye NPP and expressed skepticism about a U.S. proposal to convert the Donbas regioncoveted by Russia, in a free economic zone as a compromise.

“I don’t know if this can be implemented, because when we talked about a free economic zone, we had different opinions about it,” he said.

He said that in the last round of talks negotiators discussed how a ceasefire would be technically monitored. He added that the United States has reaffirmed that it will play a role in that process.

In recent months, repeated Russian airstrikes have targeted Ukraine’s power grid, causing blackouts and disrupting heat and water supplies for families during an extremely cold winter, putting further pressure on kyiv.

Zelenskyy said the United States again proposed a ceasefire prohibiting attacks on energy infrastructure. Ukraine is willing to observe that pause if Russia commits; but added that when Moscow previously agreed to a one-week pause suggested by the United States, it was violated after just four days.