By Enyichukwu Enemanna
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said that the United States wants a peace settlement between Ukraine and Russia by early summer, bringing to an end the war that has lasted for four years.
This is despite repeated rounds of peace talks that have yielded no results over issues around territory and security guarantees.
“They say they want to get everything done by June,” Zelensky said in remarks published Saturday by the Presidency. “And they will do everything to end the war. They want a clear schedule of events.”
“If the Russians are really ready to end the war, then it is really important to set a deadline,” he added.
Zelensky said that Washington had proposed that Ukrainian and Russian delegations meet in the United States, probably in Miami, in a week’s time. “We have confirmed our participation.”
The Kremlin has insisted that Kyiv gives up all of the Donbas region, about a quarter of which is still held by Ukrainian forces. Ukraine has refused to cede the territory.
“We stand where we stand,” said Zelensky, with the current frontline the basis for a ceasefire.
“The American side says they can guarantee the monitoring,” Zelensky said, referring to the trilateral negotiations in Abu Dhabi this week.
“There can be no end to the war without security guarantees. This is an absolute certainty.”
He added that there were signs that some bilateral discussions between the US and Russia might impinge on Ukraine. “Ukraine will not support any such even potential agreements about us that are made without us,” Zelensky asserted.
Zelensky’s remarks came as Russia carried out another large-scale attack on Ukraine’s power infrastructure, with several regions targeted by hundreds of drones and missiles overnight.
The overnight attacks follow a recent lull in strikes on energy infrastructure by both sides, which was proposed by the US. Zelensky said Washington had proposed “that both sides once again support the US President’s energy de-escalation initiative. Ukraine has agreed, but Russia has not yet responded.”
Zelensky said the latest Russian strikes involved “more than 400 drones and around 40 missiles of various types. The main targets were the energy grid, generation facilities, and distribution substations.”
“Energy facilities have suffered significant damage, which has affected the energy situation across practically the entire country, resulting in major power outages,” the Ukrainian president said.
