Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Saturday that the United States is proposing that Moscow and Kiev end the four-year war between Russia and Ukraine by early this summer.
“The Americans are proposing that the sides end the war by the beginning of the summer and will probably put pressure on both sides according to this time frame,” Zelenskiy said in an address to reporters, which was carried by Ukrainian media, including the state-run Ukrinform news agency.
Zelensky stated that the Ukrainian side understands that internal political issues in the US affect the proposed deadline, and believes that the time frame is connected to the start of the election campaign for mid-term elections in the US later this year.
Negotiations in Miami
According to him, the USA proposed to host a meeting between the Russian and Ukrainian negotiating teams for the first time, adding that the meeting could be held in Miami as soon as a week from now.
Zelensky also said that Washington proposed that Russia and Ukraine again support President Donald Trump’s initiative to stop attacks on energy infrastructure. As he stated, Kiev has already confirmed its support for this initiative, while Moscow has not yet done so.
The statements of the Ukrainian president followed two days of negotiations between Moscow, Kiev and Washington, held on February 4 and 5 in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates. Following these talks, Russia and Ukraine held their first closed exchange in five months.
Before that, the initial round of trilateral talks was held on January 23 and 24, also in Abu Dhabi.
