Kyiv, February 12 (QNA) - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that the US needed to put more pressure on Russia if it wanted the war to end by summer, adding it was unclear whether Moscow would attend US-brokered peace talks next week.

President Zelenskyy affirmed that Ukraine was ready to attend the meeting, which follows two rounds of trilateral negotiations over the past month that have failed to produce a breakthrough.

"It depends not only on Ukraine, but ⁠also on America, which must exert pressure ⁠on Russia," Zelenskyy said of a possible peace deal by summer.

President Zelenskyy had already clarified that the US wishes to end the four-year-long war by June.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov had stated earlier that negotiations regarding the settlement of the Ukrainian crisis are still ongoing, but noted that "there is still a long way to go." (QNA)