Top US officials pull out of Russia-Ukraine ceasefire talks in London

The London talks, which aim to secure the ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia, will not include US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Steve Witkev.

Instead, the meeting will be held on Wednesday between senior officials from the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Ukraine and the United States, while UK Foreign Minister David Lami will host a bilateral meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart.

Trump’s Ukraine envoy, General Keith Keel, attends the talks instead of Witkeov and Rubio, who referred to Wednesday talks as “technical meetings.”

Instead, the US Secretary of State will focus on talks in Moscow this week, as the pace of diplomatic efforts to end the war is accelerating.

There is increasing speculation that Russia may be ready to stop its invasion along the current front lines in exchange for great concessions.

However, there is little clarity around the place where the latest conversations are heading or whether it will succeed.

Ukrainian President Folodimir Zelinski ruled out the recognition of the occupied Crimea as Russian lands, after reports indicated that the United States and Karmlin.

Russia intensified its attacks on Ukraine on Wednesday, after a short calm on Easter when it stopped air strikes.

Nine people were killed Dozens were wounded in the city of Marhanitz in the East Marhanitz city when a Russian drone hit a bus that transported workers.

Officials in the southern region of makerson said that a major facility providing electricity was destroyed after exposure to a repeated Russian spell.

The UK Foreign Ministry confirmed on Wednesday that the talks between foreign ministers had been postponed. “Official talks will continue, but they are closed to the media,” the statement said.

British diplomats said they were not quite clear about the reason for the withdrawal of Rubio and Wikkov from the London conversations.

The US State Department blamed logistical reasons, but it was clear that the decision was at the last minute and left the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Marco Rubio spoke to the UK Foreign Minister on Tuesday evening about what he was hoping to be “fundamental and good technical meetings”, adding that he would reschedule his planned journey to the United Kingdom in the coming months.

Lammy described the conversation as a “producer”, before “a critical moment for Ukraine, Britain and Uran Atlantic Security” with “continuing conversations at the pace.”

The US Secretary of State said X: “I look forward to follow -up after the ongoing discussions.”

Perhaps the United States’ decision was that the Americans felt that they had nothing new they say since they had last met in Paris last week – or perhaps they realized that the Ukrainians were likely to reject the latest ceasefire plan in the United States and did not want to hear bad news.

The White House said that Witkeov will travel to Moscow this week for his fourth meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

All this comes in the middle A report at financial times Russia may be ready to stop its invasion along the current front lines and abandon the regional allegations of the areas currently not occupy, in exchange for recognizing Russian sovereignty over the Crimea.

“Many falsehoods are published nowadays,” the government media has refused.

Zelinski said that such proposals had not been shared with him and refused to recognize the Gen. Crimea as Russian lands.

“Ukraine does not recognize a law to occupy the Crimea. There is nothing to talk about,” he said during a press conference on Tuesday night.

In recognition of the illegal annexation of the Crimea in Russia, it will not only be a political impossible to accept Zelinski, but will also be the opposite with international legal norms after the war that the borders should not be changed by force.

Speaking to the BBC Radio 4 program today, Yuri Sak, Advisor to the Ministry of Strategic Industries in Ukraine, said that it is “not regular” such reports and added that he was “naive” to expect Ukraine to change its position on “non -negotiable issues” such as crime.

SAK added that the Ukrainian negotiators will attend the London meeting on a “very clear and narrow mandate” to achieve a ceasefire “paves the way for more talks.”

Putin described the temporary ceasefire of the Easter holiday, but UK Defense Minister John Healy told the House of Commons on Tuesday that British military intelligence did not find any evidence of attacks in the attacks.

“While Putin said he had announced the Easter truce, he broke it,” he said. “While Putin says he wants peace, he has refused a full ceasefire, and while Putin says he wants to put an end to fighting, he continues to play for a time in negotiations.”

“The Russian military progress” was “slowdown”, while the country continued to “pressure Ukraine on a number of fronts.”

It is estimated that hundreds of thousands of people were killed or injured from all parties because Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, and about seven million Ukrainians currently Listed as refugees All over the world.

The conflict dates back to more than a decade, until 2014, when the pro -Russian President of Ukraine was overthrown. Russia then included the Crimea and supported the militants in the bloody fighting in eastern Ukraine.