Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said the United States wants a peace agreement between Ukraine and Russia by early summer, despite repeated talks on territorial and security issues without a breakthrough.
“They say they want to finish everything by June,” Zelenskiy said in a statement released by the presidential palace on Saturday. “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, it is very important to set a deadline,” he added.
Zelenskiy said the US government has proposed that Ukrainian and Russian delegations meet in the US, possibly in Miami, within a week. “I have confirmed your participation.”
CNN has asked the U.S. government for comment on Zelensky’s remarks.
The Kremlin insists that Kiev abandon the entire Donbass region, about a quarter of which is still occupied by Ukrainian forces. Ukraine refuses to cede territory.
Zelenskiy’s comments came as Russia carried out another major attack on Ukraine’s electricity infrastructure, with multiple regions targeted by hundreds of drones and missiles overnight.
The nighttime attack followed a recent lull in energy infrastructure strikes by the two countries, proposed by the United States. Zelenskiy said the US “proposed that both sides renew their support for the US president’s energy de-escalation initiative. Ukraine has agreed, but Russia has not yet responded.”
Zelenskiy said Russia’s recent attacks “used more than 400 unmanned aircraft and about 40 missiles of various types. The main targets were energy grids, power generation facilities and distribution substations.”
Zelenskiy said most of the targeted locations were in central and central Ukraine, including the Lviv and Rivne regions, but the Kiev and Kharkov regions were also affected. Large parts of Ukraine will face temperatures well below freezing over the next few days.
Ukraine’s Energy Minister Denis Shumyar said Russian forces attacked the backbone of the country’s energy grid, including 750 kilovolt and 330 kilovolt high-voltage overhead lines and two thermal power plants.
Shmyhal said an emergency power outage had been implemented across Ukraine.
“Energy workers are ready to begin recovery as soon as the security situation allows.”
More than 600,000 subscribers across the Lviv region were without power on Saturday morning, according to Maxim Kozytsky, head of the Lviv Regional Military Government Department.
Ukrainian power company DTEK said the attack on the thermal power plant was the 10th major attack on its 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.
“Every day Russia can choose real diplomacy, but it chooses new attacks,” Zelenskiy said.
“Moscow should be stripped of its ability to use the cold as leverage against Ukraine. For that, we need missiles for Patriot, NASAMS and other (air defense) systems. Every shipment will help us get through this winter.”
