KYIV, Ukraine — The United States has given Ukraine and Russia until June to reach an agreement to end the nearly four-year war, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, as Russian attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure forced nuclear power plants to reduce output over the weekend.
Speaking to reporters on Friday in remarks embargoed until Saturday, Zelenskyy said the U.S. is pushing for a clear timetable to end the conflict by early summer and is prepared to pressure both sides if the deadline is not met.
“The Americans are proposing that 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. “They want a clear schedule of all events.”
Zelenskyy added that the U.S. has proposed holding the next round of trilateral talks involving Washington, Kyiv, and Moscow as early as next week, possibly in Miami, marking the first time such discussions would take place on U.S. soil. Ukraine has confirmed its participation.
He also disclosed that Russia has submitted a $12 trillion economic proposal to the U.S., which he referred to as the “Dmitriev package,” named after Russian envoy Kirill Dmitriev. Zelenskyy said bilateral economic arrangements between Washington and Moscow are part of the broader negotiation framework.
Meanwhile, Russian forces continued large-scale attacks on Ukraine’s energy sector. Zelenskyy said more than 400 drones and about 40 missiles were launched overnight Saturday, targeting the national power grid, electricity generation facilities, and distribution networks.
Ukrenergo, Ukraine’s state energy transmission operator, said the assault marked the second mass strike on energy infrastructure since the start of the year. Eight energy facilities across eight regions were hit, forcing nuclear power plants to scale back operations.
“As a result 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 said, warning that the attacks significantly widened the country’s power deficit and led to extended hourly blackouts nationwide.
The June deadline follows U.S.-brokered trilateral talks in Abu Dhabi that failed to produce a breakthrough, with both sides holding firm to incompatible demands. Russia continues to press Ukraine to withdraw from the Donbas region, where fighting remains intense—an option Kyiv has repeatedly rejected.
“Difficult issues remained difficult,” Zelenskyy said, reiterating Ukraine’s stance on Donbas. “We stand where we stand is the fairest and most reliable model for a ceasefire today.” He added that the most contentious issues would need to be addressed directly in a trilateral meeting of leaders.
Zelenskyy also said no agreement was reached on managing the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant and expressed skepticism over a U.S. proposal to designate Donbas as a free economic zone as a compromise solution.
“I do not know whether this can be implemented, because when we talked about a free economic zone, we had different views on it,” he said.
During the latest talks, negotiators discussed the technical mechanisms for monitoring a potential ceasefire. Zelenskyy said the U.S. reaffirmed its willingness to take part in overseeing such arrangements.
Russian aerial assaults in recent months have increasingly targeted Ukraine’s power grid, triggering widespread blackouts and disrupting heating and water supplies during winter, further straining the country’s infrastructure.
Zelenskyy said Washington has once again proposed a ceasefire banning strikes on energy facilities. Ukraine is prepared to observe such a pause if Russia commits, he said, but noted that a previous U.S.-backed one-week halt was violated by Moscow after just four days.
Edgardo Hernal started college at UP Diliman and received his BA in Economics from San Sebastian College, Manila, and Masters in Information Systems Management from Keller Graduate School of Management of DeVry University in Oak Brook, IL. He has 25 years of copy editing and management experience at Thomson West, a subsidiary of Thomson Reuters.
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