WP: High-level Ukraine peace talks in London scratched after U.S. pullout

European diplomats pulled the plug on high-level talks set for Wednesday about ending Russia’s war in Ukraine after top U.S. diplomats abruptly canceled plans to attend, writes ‘The Washington Post’.

The disruption comes amid anger in Washington over Ukraine’s reluctance to accept controversial proposals to cede territory to Russia and Kyiv’s preference “to discuss a complete ceasefire first and everything else later,” said an official briefed on the situation who spoke on the condition of anonymity due to the tense political moment.

Lower-level talks carried on Wednesday in London, but a foreign ministers’ meeting will no longer take place, according to a diplomat in London familiar with the planning. British Foreign Secretary David Lammy, who was set to host his peers, will instead “drop in” on the lower-level sessions.

“The foreign minister-level meeting isn’t happening,” said the diplomat familiar with the talks, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe internal deliberations. “We’re hopeful as per the Rubio tweet that a meeting in London can happen soon, but without Witkoff, the secretary of state, the French and German foreign ministers, there’s no reason for the foreign secretary to chair.”

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio had been scheduled to fly to London on Tuesday night but canceled those plans midday. Steve Witkoff, a special envoy and close ally of President Donald Trump central to White House efforts to broker an end to the war, also dropped out. He will head to Moscow this week, according to the Russians.

The State Department played down the significance of Rubio’s last-minute decision to skip the London meeting, made just hours before he was scheduled to take off.

“Secretary Rubio is a busy man,” State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce said. “While the meetings in London are still occurring, he will not be attending, but that is not a statement regarding the meetings. It’s a statement about logistical issues in his schedule.”

There is also a lot happening on Ukraine, after London peace talks expected to take place on ministerial level were postponed at the very last minute, with meetings downgraded to official level and closed to media.

Ukrainian Zelensky rebuffed a suggestion that was floated by USA that Washington would formally recognize Crimea as Russian territory in exchange for Moscow ending the fighting. The deal would call for the eventual lifting of sanctions against Russia under a future accord, according to three people familiar with the matter. Zelensky told reporters Tuesday that Ukraine would not recognize Crimea as Russian.

Vice President JD Vance, traveling in India on Wednesday, repeated warnings that the United States would walk away from its efforts to broker a peace accord if Moscow and Kyiv didn’t reach an agreement soon.

“We’ve issued a very explicit proposal to both the Russians and the Ukrainians, and it’s time for them to either say yes or for the United States to walk away from this process,” he told reporters in Agra while visiting the Taj Mahal. “We’re going to see if the Europeans, the Russians and the Ukrainians are ultimately able to get this thing over the finish line.”

He said the proposal would freeze the current battle lines to where they are today while a long-term diplomatic settlement was achieved. Both sides would have to give up some territory they currently control, Vance said.

The Russians, watching from the sidelines, said the collapse of the London talks showed how far apart Ukrainian and American officials remain on the basic contours of a peace deal.

“As far as we understand, it has not yet been possible to reconcile positions on some issues, which is why this meeting has not taken place yet,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Wednesday. “We continue our contacts with the Americans. We have no contacts with the Europeans; we have no contacts with the Ukrainians, either, although President [Vladimir] Putin remains open to such contacts in the interest of reconciliation.”

Strategists. Secretary Marco Rubio receives a gift from French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot as UK Foreign Minister David Lammy and German Political Director of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Günter Sautter look on at the Quai d'Orsay in Paris, France.
Photo: State Department

Rubio's no show prompted a broader meeting of foreign ministers from Ukraine, Britain, France and Germany to be cancelled, although talks continued at a lower level. The U.S. would now be represented by Ukraine envoy General Keith Kellogg, Reuters notes.

The downgrading of the talks comes at a critical time, just days after U.S. President Donald Trump warned that Washington could walk away if there was no progress on a deal soon. Trump raised the pressure on Sunday when he said he hoped Moscow and Kyiv would make a deal this week to end the three-year war.

A European official said Rubio had indicated to his British hosts concerns that Ukraine could revert to its toughest positions, making any breakthrough at the talks impossible.

The meeting is a follow-up to a similar session in Paris last week where U.S., Ukrainian and European officials discussed ways to move forward and narrow positions.

During those talks, Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff presented a paper to the participants outlining proposals in which Ukraine in particular, but also Russia, would need to make concessions, according to three diplomats aware of the talks.

The diplomats differed on whether the position paper was a firm U.S. stance or a starting point to work with Ukraine and its British, French and German allies to formulate a joint position before taking it to Russia.

Some of Washington's proposals were unacceptable to European countries and Kyiv, multiple sources said, leaving the sides divided, but still optimistic that they could reach a compromise.

France's Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said on Tuesday that the Europeans had detailed to the United States what they view as the non-negotiable aspects of a potential Ukraine-Russia peace accord.

But the sources said that among the U.S. proposals to recognize Russia's Crimea, a move that was a non-starter for Europe and Ukraine.

The London talks were aimed at working to bridge differences and find areas that could satisfy Moscow and open a serious negotiation, the diplomats said.

Beyond Crimea, other major sticking points remain, including Russia's push for lifting of European Union sanctions against it before negotiations are finished, which Europe staunchly opposes, diplomats said.

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