LONDON, February 9. /TASS/. US Permanent Representative to NATO Matthew Whitaker denied Vladimir Zelensky's claim that the US aims to end the conflict in Ukraine by the summer, The Guardian reported.

"That June deadline was mentioned by President Zelensky. I don't think that is anything that the United States has put out there," Whitaker stated, noting that Washington is focused on ending the conflict "as soon as possible."

On February 4-5, the second round of trilateral talks between Russia, the US, and Ukraine took place in Abu Dhabi. Following the consultations, US Special Presidential Envoy Steve Witkoff announced that Moscow and Kiev had agreed to exchange 314 prisoners of war. He added that the Russian and Ukrainian delegations plan to continue consultations on resolving the conflict in the coming weeks.

After the talks, Zelensky said that the US is seeking to end the conflict in Ukraine by the summer and may pressure Kiev to meet this goal, suggesting that the timeline is driven by "internal issues that will soon become more pressing" for the US.