Zelensky says US wants Ukraine-Russia peace deal by June, despite failure to reach breakthrough so far

By CNN’s Tim Lister and Svitlana Vlasova

(CNN) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said that the United States wants a peace settlement between Ukraine and Russia by early summer, despite repeated rounds of talks failing to reach a breakthrough over the issues of 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.”

CNN has sought comment from the US government on Zelensky’s remarks.

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.

Many of the targeted sites were in central and western Ukraine, including the Lviv and Rivne regions, Zelensky said, but the Kyiv and Kharkiv regions had also been hit. Much of Ukraine faces temperatures well below freezing for the next few days.

Ukrainian energy minister Denys Shmyal said the Russians had attacked the backbone of the country’s energy grid, including high voltage 750 kV and 330 kV overhead lines and two thermal power plants.

Emergency blackouts had been implemented throughout Ukraine, Shmyhal said.

“Energy workers are ready to begin restoration as soon as the security situation allows.”

More than 600,000 subscribers throughout the Lviv region were without electricity on Saturday morning, according to Maksym Kozytskyi, head of Lviv region military administration.

Ukrainian power provider DTEK said the strikes on the thermal plants were the 10th massive attack on the company’s facilities since October. DTEK’s thermal power plants “have been attacked by the enemy more than 220 times” since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion, the company said.

The power outages led Ukraine’s nuclear plants to reduce their output, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency. The agency’s Director General, Rafael Grossi, reiterated a call for restraint as the “worsening grid situation compromises nuclear safety,” the IAEA said.

“Every day, Russia could choose real diplomacy, but it chooses new strikes,” Zelensky said.

“Moscow must be deprived of the ability to use the cold as leverage against Ukraine. This requires missiles for Patriot, NASAMS, and other (air defense) systems. Every shipment helps us get through this winter.”

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