US pressing Ukraine and Russia to end war by June, Zelensky says

AFP | Kyiv

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The United States wants Ukraine and Russia to end their nearly four-year war by June, and has offered to host talks between the two sides in Florida next week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said.

US-led efforts to end Europe’s deadliest conflict since World War II have stepped up a gear in recent weeks, but Moscow and Kyiv remain at odds over the key issue of territory.

Russia, which occupies around 20 percent of its neighbour, is pushing for full control of Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region as part of any deal and has threatened to take it by force if talks fail.

But Ukraine says ceding ground will embolden Moscow and so it will not sign an agreement that fails to deter Russia from invading again.

“The United States has proposed for the first time that the two negotiating teams -- Ukraine and Russia -- meet in the United States, probably in Miami, in a week’s time,” Zelensky told reporters in comments made public early yesterday.

“They say that they want to do everything by June,” he added. The US has mediated two rounds of negotiations 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 said talks have been difficult.

‘Free economic zone’

Zelensky 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.

Russia has rejected this and Washington has instead 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,” Zelensky 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, Zelensky 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, Zelensky added.