Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky asserted that the White House gave a June deadline for Kiev and Moscow to reach a peace agreement. The US Ambassador to NATO said President Donald Trump has not placed a timeline on a deal.
“[Americans] say they want to get everything done by June. And they will do everything to end the war. They want a clear schedule of events,” Zelensky said in a statement published Saturday. “If the Russians are really ready to end the war, then it is really important to set a deadline.”
On Monday, US NATO Ambassador Matthew Whitaker explained that Washington has not set a timeline for the peace negotiations. “I don’t think that is anything that the United States has put out there,” he said.
“We want the fighting to end. We want both sides to come together and agree to a peace deal. We’d like it sooner rather than later, and … we just want … to see the suffering and the killing end in Ukraine.” He continued, “We want a peace deal done. I think we’ll just get this done as soon as it’s ready to get done. But ultimately, both sides, the Russians and the Ukrainians, are going to have to agree to any deal that’s hammered out.”
The US is mediating talks between Russia and Ukraine in the UAE. However, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov suggested talks were not progressing. He claimed that Washington was walking away from the framework agreed to by President Doand Trump and President Vladimir Putin in Alaska last year.
The top Russian diplomat added that the Kremlin does not envision a future with strong economic ties between the world’s nuclear superpowers. Moscow sees “no promising future in economic terms” between the US and Russia, Lavrov added.
