The US has given Ukraine and Russia a June deadline to reach a deal to end the nearly four‑year war, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Saturday. His comments came after overnight Russian strikes on energy infrastructure forced nuclear power plants to cut output.
If the June deadline is not met, the Trump administration will likely put pressure on both sides to meet it, Zelenskyy added.
“The 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,” he said.
“And 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.”
He added that the US proposed holding the next round of trilateral talks next week in their country for the first time, likely in Miami, confirming Ukraine’s participation.
Zelenskyy said Russia presented the US with a $12 trillion economic proposal — which he dubbed the “Dmitriev package” after Russian envoy Kirill Dmitriev. Bilateral economic deals with the US form part of the broader negotiating process.
Russian strikes hit Ukrainian energy infrastructure
In comments made separately in a post on X, Zelenskyy confirmed that Russian strikes on Ukrainian energy infrastructure have continued, with over 400 drones and about 40 missiles launched overnight Saturday. Targets included the energy grid, generation facilities and distribution networks.
State energy transmission operator UkrEnergo 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.
“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,” the statement said.
It said the power deficit in the country has increased “significantly” as a result of the attacks forcing an extension of hourly power outages in all regions of Ukraine.
Repeated Russian aerial assaults have in recent months focused on Ukraine’s power grid, causing blackouts and disrupting the heating and water supply for families during a bitterly cold winter.
Zelenskyy said the US again proposed a ceasefire banning strikes on energy infrastructure, a truce Ukraine is ready to observe if Russia commits. At the same time, he added that when Moscow previously agreed to a one-week pause suggested by the US, it was violated after just four days.
Breakthrough depends on highly contested Donbas region
The latest deadline follows US-brokered trilateral talks in Abu Dhabi that produced no breakthrough. Russia continues to press Ukraine to withdraw from the Donbas, where fighting remains intense — a condition Kyiv says it will never accept.
Zelenskyy has repeatedly expressed frustration that his country is being asked to make disproportionate compromises compared to Russia.
“Difficult issues remained difficult. Ukraine once again confirmed its positions on the Donbas issue. ‘We stand where we stand’ is the fairest and most reliable model for a ceasefire today, in our opinion,” 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‑held Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant and expressed skepticism about a US proposal to turn the Donbas region, coveted by Russia, into a free economic zone as a compromise.
“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.
He said in the last round of talks the negotiators discussed how a ceasefire would be technically monitored. He added that the US has reaffirmed it would play a role in that process.
A report by Reuters on Friday evening said that according to multiple anonymous sources, any deal between Ukraine and Russia will be submitted to a referendum by Ukrainians voters alongside national elections.
Additional sources • AP