The development comes after President Donald Trump reportedly floated a plan that would see the US recognize Crimea as part of Russia
A planned high-level meeting in London to discuss the Ukraine conflict has been downgraded after several key European ministers withdrew from the talks. The development comes after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio signaled he would not be present.
The meeting, initially set for Wednesday, was due to include top diplomats from the UK, the US, France, Germany, and Ukraine. However, the sit-down has been postponed and the discussions will now proceed at the level of officials, the UK Foreign Office has confirmed to AFP.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrey Sibiga is still expected to hold a bilateral meeting with UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy, according to Sky News.
The US State Department earlier confirmed that Rubio would not attend the talks, citing scheduling conflicts. “That is not a statement regarding the meetings; it’s a statement about logistical issues in his schedule,” spokesperson Tammy Bruce said on Tuesday.
US President Donald Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, will also not be present and is expected to visit Moscow this week. The US side will instead be represented in London by presidential envoy Keith Kellogg.
Trump recently floated what was described as a “final offer” to resolve the Ukraine conflict. The proposal would reportedly include “de jure” US recognition of Crimea as part of Russia and unofficial recognition of Moscow’s “de facto” control over the Lugansk and Donetsk People’s Republics, as well as the Kherson and Zaporozhye regions. The plan is also said to include the lifting of certain sanctions against Russia and opposition to NATO membership for Ukraine.
Crimea and four other regions overwhelmingly voted to join Russia in referendums in 2014 and 2022, respectively. However, Kiev has refused to accept the results of the vote.
A Financial Times report has claimed that Moscow would be ready to freeze hostilities with Ukraine along the current front lines. Commenting on the report, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov remarked that “a lot of fakes are being published now,” calling for people to rely only on “the primary sources” of information.
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