KYIV, Ukraine (AP) 鈥� The U.S. has given Ukraine and Russia a June deadline to reach a deal to end the nearly four鈥憏ear war, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told reporters, as Russian strikes on energy infrastructure forced nuclear power plants to cut output on Saturday.
If the June deadline is not met, the Trump administration will likely put pressure on both sides to meet it, he added.
鈥淭he 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,鈥� Zelenskyy said, speaking to reporters on Friday. Zelenskyy鈥檚 comments were embargoed until Saturday morning.
鈥淎nd they say that they want to do everything by June. And they will do everything to end the war. And they want a clear schedule of all events,鈥� he said.
He said the U.S. proposed holding the next round of trilateral talks next week in their country for the first time, likely in Miami, Zelenskyy said. 鈥淲e confirmed our participation,鈥� he added.
Zelenskyy said Russia presented the U.S. with a $12 trillion economic proposal 鈥� which he dubbed the 鈥淒mitriev package鈥� after Russian envoy Kirill Dmitriev. Bilateral economic deals with the U.S. form part of the broader negotiating process.
Russian strikes on Ukrainian energy infrastructure continued with over 400 drones and about 40 missiles launched overnight Saturday, Zelenskyy said in a post on X. Targets included the energy grid, generation facilities and distribution networks.
Ukrenergo, the state energy transmission operator, said the attack was the second mass strike on energy infrastructure since the start of the year, forcing nuclear power plants to reduce output. Eight facilities in eight regions came under attack, it said in a statement.
鈥淎s 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,鈥� the statement said.
It said the power deficit in the country has increased 鈥渟ignificantly鈥� as a result of the attacks forcing an extension of hourly power outages in all regions of Ukraine.
The latest deadline follows U.S.-brokered trilateral talks in Abu Dhabi that produced no breakthrough as the warring parties cling to mutually exclusive demands. Russia is pressing Ukraine to withdraw from the Donbas, where fighting remains intense 鈥� a condition Kyiv says it will never accept.
鈥淒ifficult issues remained difficult. Ukraine once again confirmed its positions on the Donbas issue. 鈥榃e stand where we stand鈥� is the fairest and most reliable model for a ceasefire today, in our opinion,鈥� Zelenskyy said. He reiterated that the most challenging topics would be reserved for a trilateral meeting between leaders.
Zelenskyy said no common ground was reached on managing the Russian鈥慼eld Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant and expressed skepticism about a U.S. proposal to turn the Donbas region, coveted by Russia, into a free economic zone as a compromise.
鈥淚 do not know whether this can be implemented, because when we talked about a free economic zone, we had different views on it,鈥� he said.
He said in the last round of talks the negotiators discussed how a ceasefire would be technically monitored. He added that the U.S. has reaffirmed it would play a role in that process.
Repeated Russian aerial assaults have in recent months focused on , causing blackouts and disrupting the heating and water supply during a bitterly cold winter, putting more pressure on Kyiv.
Zelenskyy said the U.S. again proposed a ceasefire banning strikes on energy infrastructure. Ukraine is ready to observe such a pause if Russia commits; but he added that when Moscow previously agreed to a one-week pause suggested by the U.S., it was violated after just four days.
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