Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on the 7th (local time) that the United States has set a deadline of June for talks with Russia to end the war.
AP and AFP reported that Zelensky said in a media statement released that morning that the United States had set this deadline.
In the statement, Zelensky said, "The United States proposed to both sides to end the war before the start of this summer and appears likely to put pressure on both sides according to this timetable," adding, "The United States said it will do everything for an end to the war and wants a clear schedule, hoping that (Russia and Ukraine) will also do everything by June."
He also said he believes the United States proposed this timeline for internal reasons. The United States has midterm elections in November this year.
Zelensky said the United States proposed holding the first U.S.-Russia-Ukraine three-way talks in the United States next week, adding that they could take place in Miami, Florida. He added that Ukraine will attend.
However, Kremlin Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said the previous day that there were no plans to hold the next three-way talks in the United States and no such discussions, Russia's state-run RIA Novosti reported.
The U.S.-Russia-Ukraine three-way talks for an end to the war were held twice in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE), on the 23rd–24th of last month and the 4th–5th of this month, but failed to reach a conclusion as Russia and Ukraine showed differences over ceding Ukrainian territory.
Russia is demanding a complete withdrawal of Ukrainian forces from the Donbas (Donetsk and Luhansk provinces in eastern Ukraine), but Ukraine says it cannot accept that.
In this statement, Zelensky also said, "Difficult issues still remain. Ukraine once again confirmed its position that 'remaining as is' is the most fair and reliable way to end the war."
He also expressed a negative view, saying that while no agreement has been reached on the operation of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine, which is occupied by Russia, the U.S. proposal to make the Donbas region a free economic zone "may not be implemented because the views differ."
Zelensky said technical monitoring measures for Russia and Ukraine after the end of the war were also discussed at the last talks, and explained that the United States reaffirmed it would play a role in this process. He also said the United States again proposed halting strikes on energy facilities, as it did last month, and Ukraine will comply if Russia does, but noted that Russia did not honor the previous agreement to halt strikes, breaking it after four days.
Zelensky also said Russia had presented to the United States an economic proposal worth $12 trillion (about 1,760 trillion won) called the "Dmitriev package." Dmitriev is the name of Kirill Dmitriev, the head of the sovereign wealth funds and a presidential envoy who is participating as Russia's representative in the end-of-war talks.