The United States is pushing for an end to the ongoing conflict between Ukraine and Russia, urging both nations to conclude their nearly four-year war by June. To facilitate this, the U.S. has extended an offer to host peace talks in Florida next week, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Efforts led by the U.S. to resolve Europe’s most lethal confrontation since World War II have intensified recently. However, significant disagreements over territorial issues continue to impede progress between Moscow and Kyiv.
Russia, which currently holds approximately 20 percent of Ukrainian territory, is seeking full control over Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region as part of any potential agreement. Moscow has warned that it might resort to force if negotiations do not yield the desired results.
On the other hand, Ukraine is firmly against conceding any territory, arguing that such a move would only embolden further aggression from Moscow. Ukrainian officials are adamant that any accord must include measures to prevent future invasions.
“For the first time, the United States has suggested that the Ukrainian and Russian negotiation teams meet on American soil, possibly in Miami next week,” Zelenskyy informed reporters.
“They are aiming to have everything resolved by June,” he added.
The US has mediated two rounds of negotiation between the two sides in Abu Dhabi since January, brokering a major prisoner exchange but failing to reach a breakthrough on territory.
Both Moscow and Kyiv say talks have been difficult.
‘Free economic zone’
Zelenskyy has repeatedly expressed frustration that his country is being asked to make disproportionate compromises compared to Russia.
Ukraine has proposed freezing the conflict along the current front lines.
But Russia has rejected this, and Washington has pushed for Kyiv to convert the land it currently controls in the Donetsk region into a “free economic zone” where neither side has military control.
“Even if we come to the creation of a free economic zone, we will need fair and reliable rules,” Zelenskyy said.
The two sides have also failed to reach a “common understanding” on the issue of control over the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, Zelenskyy said.
Russian forces seized the plant, the largest in Europe, at the start of the conflict and have held onto it since.
Ukraine will not tolerate Russia and the United States making deals about Ukraine behind its back, Zelenskyy added.
Russia hits Ukraine’s grid
Throughout the negotiating progress Russia has launched waves of deadly strikes on Ukraine that have cut heating and power to millions during freezing temperatures.
Russian attacks earlier Saturday forced Ukraine’s three operating nuclear power plants to throttle their generation capacity, “creating a direct risk of a nuclear incident”, foreign minister Andriy Sybiga said.
The UN’s atomic energy watchdog issued a statement calling for “restraint”.
Russia, which denies targeting civilians, accused Ukraine on Friday of orchestrating the shooting of a top military intelligence general in Moscow, leaving him wounded. Kyiv has yet to comment.
Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, describing it as a “special military operation” to prevent the expansion of NATO, a war aim that Kyiv has called a pretext for an illegal land grab.
The conflict has resulted in a massive wave of destruction that has left entire cities in ruins and killed tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians, while forcing millions to flee their homes.
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