US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will not attend talks in London on Wednesday aimed at working toward an end to Russia\u2019s war in Ukraine, as Kyiv signaled it would reject a key detail of the Trump administration\u2019s proposal to end the three-year conflict. <\/p>\n
Rubio had been expected to take part in the discussions with Ukrainian, UK and European officials, but State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said Tuesday that he would no longer attend due to \u201clogistical issues.\u201d <\/p>\n
President Donald Trump\u2019s special envoy for Ukraine and Russia, Keith Kellogg, will represent the US instead, Bruce said. The talks follow a meeting in Paris last week in which officials from the US, the United Kingdom, France and Germany discussed a US framework for a ceasefire. <\/p>\n
Any move to recognize Russia\u2019s control of Crimea would reverse a decade of US policy. <\/p>\n
Ukraine\u2019s President Volodymyr Zelensky made clear Tuesday that he was open to talks with Russia, but that Kyiv would not accept a deal that recognizes Moscow\u2019s control of Crimea. <\/p>\n
\u201cUkraine will not legally recognize the occupation of Crimea,\u201d he told reporters. \u201cThere is nothing to talk about. It is against our constitution.\u201d <\/p>\n
Rubio said in a post on X that he had a \u201cproductive conversation\u201d with British Foreign Secretary David Lammy, who is hosting Wednesday\u2019s meeting, and that he \u201c(looks) forward to following up\u201d with the United Kingdom and Ukraine at a later point. <\/p>\n
The talks in London come after US officials have publicly voiced frustration over the lack of progress at bringing an end to the war. <\/p>\n
Trump has said he would \u201chave to see an enthusiasm to want to end it\u201d from both sides for the US to continue negotiations, after Rubio warned last week that Washington could walk away from its efforts to end the conflict if there were no signs of progress. <\/p>\n
Trump\u2019s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff is expected to travel to Moscow this week to continue negotiations with Russian President Vladimir Putin, the White House said Tuesday. The Kremlin confirmed Witkoff\u2019s visit, but did not disclose further details, according to Russian state media. <\/p>\n
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Tuesday the negotiations were \u201chopefully moving in the right direction,\u201d and declined to say what \u201cstepping back\u201d from the peace efforts might look like for the US. <\/p>\n
Moscow has previously stalled on negotiations and rejected an earlier US proposal for a 30-day ceasefire agreed to by Kyiv. <\/p>\n
However, under pressure from Trump, Ukraine and Russia have expressed willingness to negotiate for the first time in years; the two sides have not held direct talks since the early weeks of Moscow\u2019s invasion in 2022. <\/p>\n
On Monday, Putin raised the prospect of holding direct talks with Ukraine about a ceasefire that would halt striking civilian targets, but said further discussion was needed on how to define a civilian target. <\/p>\n
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov later confirmed the Russian president\u2019s remarks, saying \u201c(Putin) had in mind negotiations and discussions with the Ukrainian side,\u201d Reuters reported, citing Russia\u2019s Interfax news agency. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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