Ahmed Kamel – Egypt Daily News
The United States has given Ukraine and Russia a June deadline to reach an agreement to end the nearly four-year war, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, as Russia launched renewed large-scale attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, forcing nuclear power plants to cut output and deepening the country’s power shortages.
Speaking to reporters on Friday in remarks released Saturday, Zelenskyy said the Trump administration was pushing for a clear timetable to end the conflict by early summer and would likely increase pressure on both sides if progress stalls.
“The Americans are proposing that the parties end the war by the beginning of this summer,” Zelenskyy said. “They want a clear schedule of all events, and they will do everything to end the war.”
Zelenskyy said Washington had proposed holding the next round of trilateral talks involving the U.S., Ukraine, and Russia next week on American soil for the first time, with Miami cited as a likely venue. Ukraine has confirmed its participation, he added.
According to Zelenskyy, Russia has presented the United States with a sweeping economic proposal valued at roughly $12 trillion, dubbed the “Dmitriev package” after Kirill Dmitriev, Moscow’s special envoy. The proposal reportedly includes bilateral economic arrangements with the U.S. as part of the broader negotiating framework, though Kyiv has expressed skepticism about linking economic incentives to territorial and security issues.
The diplomatic push comes as fighting continues unabated. Zelenskyy said Russia launched more than 400 drones and about 40 missiles overnight into Saturday, targeting Ukraine’s energy grid, power generation facilities, and distribution networks. Ukraine’s state energy operator Ukrenergo said the strikes marked the second mass attack on energy infrastructure since the start of the year.
“As a result of missile strikes on key high-voltage substations that ensured the output of nuclear power units, all nuclear power plants in territories under Ukrainian control were forced to reduce their load,” Ukrenergo said in a statement. Eight facilities across eight regions were hit, significantly worsening the country’s power deficit and forcing extended rolling blackouts nationwide.
The attacks underscore the fragile state of negotiations following U.S.-brokered talks in Abu Dhabi earlier this month, which failed to produce a breakthrough. Both sides remain entrenched in positions that appear mutually exclusive. Russia continues to demand that Ukraine withdraw from the Donbas region, where heavy fighting persists, a condition Kyiv has flatly rejected.
“Difficult issues remained difficult,” Zelenskyy said. “Ukraine once again confirmed its positions on the Donbas issue. We stand where we stand.”
He said the most sensitive political and territorial questions would likely be addressed only in a potential trilateral meeting between national leaders.
Zelenskyy also said no agreement had been reached on the future management of the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, Europe’s largest, and voiced doubts about a U.S. proposal to designate the Donbas as a free economic zone as a possible compromise. “We had different views on it,” he said, questioning whether such a plan could be implemented in practice.
During the latest round of talks, negotiators focused on the technical mechanisms for monitoring a potential ceasefire, Zelenskyy said, adding that the United States has reaffirmed its willingness to play a role in overseeing compliance.
Washington has again proposed a ceasefire banning strikes on energy infrastructure, Zelenskyy said. Ukraine is prepared to observe such a pause if Russia does the same, but he noted that a previous U.S.-backed one-week moratorium was violated after just four days.
Russia’s sustained campaign against Ukraine’s power grid has caused widespread blackouts and disrupted heating and water supplies during a harsh winter, compounding humanitarian pressure on the country as diplomatic efforts intensify ahead of the June deadline set by Washington.
