Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said the United States has imposed a new deadline of June for a peace settlement between Ukraine and Russia, with the Trump administration proposing to host the next round of trilateral talks in the US, likely in Miami, within a week.
The Ukrainian president told reporters that Washington “will probably put pressure” on both sides to end the war by the beginning of the summer. “They say they want to get everything done by June,” he said, adding that if the deadline was not met, the US would likely increase pressure on both parties.
Zelenskyy noted that the timeframe could be linked to Donald Trump’s midterm election campaign. “The [midterm] elections are definitely more important for them [the Americans]. Let’s not be naive,” he said, though he added that if Russia is genuinely ready to end the conflict, setting a deadline is important.
The announcement follows two days of US-led peace talks in Abu Dhabi this week, which Ukraine’s presidential office chief Kyrylo Budanov described as “genuinely constructive” but which did not yield a breakthrough. Previous deadlines set by the Trump administration, including a 24-hour pledge and a 100-day target after the inauguration, have passed without a deal.
Zelenskyy confirmed Ukraine’s participation in the proposed talks in the US, which would be the next round of trilateral negotiations involving Ukrainian, Russian and American officials.
