Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has revealed that the United States is pushing for an end to the nearly four-year conflict with Russia by June this year. In a significant diplomatic development, Zelensky announced that Washington has proposed hosting the next round of negotiations between Kyiv and Moscow in Florida, specifically in Miami, scheduled for next week.
Speaking to reporters in remarks made public early Saturday, Zelensky stated that this marks the first time the US has offered to host direct talks between Ukrainian and Russian negotiating teams on American soil. The proposal underscores Washington’s intensified efforts to broker a peace deal between the warring nations. “They say that they want to do everything by June,” Zelensky emphasized, highlighting the ambitious timeline set by American mediators.
The upcoming Florida talks would represent the third round of US-brokered negotiations, following two previous sessions held in Abu Dhabi since January. While those earlier meetings resulted in a significant prisoner exchange agreement, the fundamental issue of territorial control remains a major sticking point. Russia currently occupies approximately 20 percent of Ukrainian territory and is demanding further control over the key eastern Donetsk region as part of any peace settlement.
Kyiv has firmly rejected Moscow’s territorial demands, creating an impasse in the negotiation process. Russia has warned it could resort to military force if the territorial discussions fail to produce results favorable to the Kremlin. This threat has cast a shadow over the diplomatic efforts, even as both sides continue to engage in talks.
Amid the diplomatic maneuvering, Zelensky reported that Russia launched fresh attacks on Ukraine’s critical infrastructure. In a video statement posted Saturday, the Ukrainian president said Russian forces had struck facilities essential to the operation of Ukraine’s nuclear power plants the previous night. The attack forced several nuclear reactor units to reduce power generation, with one unit automatically shutting down. Zelensky condemned these strikes as unprecedented acts of terrorism and called for a strong international response while demanding Russia demonstrate genuine commitment to the ongoing peace negotiations.