Zelensky Says US Pursues June Peace Breakthrough with Florida as Diplomatic Hub

The United States has proposed hosting Russia-Ukraine peace talks in Miami next week while establishing a June target for ending the war, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced. This development signals intensified American efforts to broker a settlement.
In statements to reporters publicized early Saturday, Zelensky disclosed that this would be the first time the US has invited Ukrainian and Russian negotiating teams to meet on American soil. The unprecedented proposal indicates Washington’s readiness to assume a more prominent role in facilitating dialogue between the adversaries. According to Zelensky, American officials have communicated their desire to resolve the conflict by June.
These forthcoming negotiations would represent the third round of US-mediated talks, following two previous sessions in Abu Dhabi that began in January. While the Abu Dhabi meetings successfully brokered a major prisoner exchange, they made no progress on the territorial disputes at the heart of the conflict. Russia currently occupies about one-fifth of Ukrainian territory and is insisting on formal control over additional land in the eastern Donetsk region.
Ukrainian authorities have consistently and firmly opposed any territorial concessions, viewing them as violations of sovereignty that would legitimize military aggression. Moscow has stated that its territorial demands are essential and has warned of renewed military offensives if negotiations do not yield acceptable territorial arrangements. This impasse over borders continues to prevent substantive progress toward peace.
The diplomatic push proceeds amid ongoing combat operations. Zelensky reported on Saturday that Russian forces had launched attacks against infrastructure critical to Ukraine’s nuclear power plant operations during the previous night. The strikes forced multiple nuclear reactor units to reduce their power output, with one reactor experiencing an automatic emergency shutdown. Zelensky condemned the attacks as unprecedented acts of terrorism and demanded that Russia demonstrate genuine commitment to peace talks by ceasing strikes on vital civilian infrastructure.