Zelenskyy Says US Is Pushing For Ukraine-Russia Peace Deal By June

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has revealed that the United States is urging both Ukraine and Russia to reach a peace agreement by June, setting a fresh deadline in ongoing efforts to end the war. He also confirmed that both sides have been invited to take part in another round of talks scheduled for next week.

According to Zelenskyy, the Trump administration “will probably put pressure” on Kyiv and Moscow to bring the conflict to a close before the start of summer. “They say they want to get everything done by June,” he said. “They will do everything to end the war and they want a clear schedule of all events.” He added that failure to meet the June target would likely result in increased pressure from Washington on both parties.

Before taking office, Donald Trump had pledged to “end the war in 24 hours”. His special envoy for Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, later suggested that a deal could be reached within 100 days of Trump’s inauguration. When that timeline passed, the US president set another target for August last year, which also expired without progress. In December, Trump claimed a draft agreement to end the conflict was nearly “95% done”.

This week, two days of US-led peace negotiations were held in Abu Dhabi, though they stopped short of delivering a breakthrough. Still, Kyrylo Budanov, head of Ukraine’s presidential office, described the trilateral discussions as “genuinely constructive”.

Zelenskyy said on Saturday that Washington has предложed hosting the next round of talks in the United States—likely in Miami—within a week. “We confirmed our participation,” he said.

He suggested the new June deadline could be tied to domestic US politics, particularly Trump’s midterm election campaign. “The [midterm] elections are definitely more important for them [the Americans]. Let’s not be naive.”

Zelenskyy concluded by stressing the importance of setting clear timelines if there is genuine intent to end the conflict: “If the Russians are really ready to end the war, then it is really important to set a deadline.”