Volodymyr Zelensky said the US has given Ukraine and Russia another deadline for peace and is now proposing an end to the war by June. Ukraine’s president told reporters that the two sides have been invited to further talks next week.
Zelensky said Trump administration It will “probably put pressure” on Ukraine and Russia to end the war by early summer. “They want everything done by June,” he said. “They will do everything to end the war and they want a clear schedule of all events.
If the new deadline is not met by June, Washington is likely to put pressure on both sides, he told reporters.
Before Donald Trump took office, he promised to “end the war in 24 hours.” Later, his special envoy for Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, suggested that the two sides could come to an agreement Within 100 days of Trump’s inauguration.
After this failed to happen, the US president arranged a set New deadline for agreement In August last year, it also passed without signs of peace, and in December he said a draft agreement to end the war was about “95% complete”.
Two days of US-led peace talks in Abu Dhabi this week to end the war have produced no progress, although Kyrillo Budanov, the head of Ukraine’s presidential office, said the trilateral talks were “really constructive”.
Zelensky said on Saturday that the Trump administration is proposing to hold the next round of trilateral talks in the US, possibly in Miami, within a week. “We have confirmed our partnership,” he said.
He suggested the new June deadline for peace could be tied to Trump’s midterm campaign. “The [midterm] Elections are definitely important to them [the Americans]. We will not be naive.”
He added: “If the Russians are really ready to end the war, it is important to set a deadline.”
