Ukraine peace talks in London downgraded after Rubio reverses a plan to attend the meeting. Europe sees some of U.S. proposals for a Ukraine-Russia peace deal as unacceptable, Reuters says. A Russian drone strike on a bus in Marhanets kills nine, injures at least 51 others.
Ukraine peace talks in London downgraded after Rubio reverses plan to attend the meeting
Peace talks in London between the U.S., UK, France, Germany and Ukraine to discuss ending Russia’s war in Ukraine were downgraded after it was announced that U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio would not attend. The Wednesday talks in London were set to be convened at the level of foreign ministers before a spokesperson said the top U.S. diplomat would not attend, citing scheduling issues.
U.K. Foreign Secretary David Lammy’s office then confirmed that the meeting would take place at a lower level. “Official level talks will continue but these are closed to media,” the department said in a message to journalists Wednesday.
Andriy Yermak, the head of Ukraine’s presidential office, said on social media that a delegation including him, Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha and Defense Minister Rustem Umerov had arrived in London for the talks despite the alterations.
If Rubio is skipping the talks, it’s clear that a meeting in foreign ministers format with Rubio won’t happen, a source in the Ukrainian delegation told RBC Ukraine on Wednesday. But the Ukrainian team is “ready for all formats and talks,” it said.
U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff also bailed on the negotiations. The U.S. delegation will now be led by U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Ukraine and Russia, Keith Kellogg.
Rubio reversed plans to attend the latest talks after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi reasserted that Ukraine would not accept any deal that recognized Russia’s legal control of Crimea, Western media concluded. The U.S. presented Ukraine with its “final offer” for peace last week, which includes U.S. recognition of Crimea as Russian, according to Axios.
U.S. Vice President 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 Ukrainians, and it’s time for them to either say yes or for the U.S. to walk away from this process.”
Asked to clarify about whether he meant the U.S. wanted to freeze the territorial lines where they are, Vance said: “No, I didn’t say that. What I said is the current line, somewhere close to them is where you’re ultimately, I think, going to draw the new lines in the conflict. Now of course, that means the Ukrainians and the Russians are both going to have to give up some of the territory they currently own. There’s gonna have to be some territorial swaps.”
Europe sees some of U.S. proposals for Ukraine-Russia peace deal as unacceptable, Reuters says
Multiple sources told Reuters that some of U.S. proposals for a peace deal were unacceptable to European countries and Kyiv. French 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 peace accord.
Beyond Crimea, other major sticking points remain, including Russia’s push for lifting European Union sanctions against it before negotiations are finished, which Europe staunchly opposes, diplomats told Reuters.
Washington proposed last week to establish a neutral zone at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Russian-occupied Ukraine, according to European diplomats. Ukraine and the Europeans would also need to accept Russia’s control of nearly all of Luhansk region and the occupied portions of Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia. In addition, NATO membership for Ukraine would be ruled out and the U.S. would begin to lift sanctions on Russia. The text notes that Ukraine could become part of the European Union.
Russian drone strike on bus in Marhanets kills nine, injures at least 51 others
A Russian drone hit a bus carrying workers in the city of Marhanets, in the region of Dnipro, on Wednesday, killing nine people and injuring at least 51 others. The bus was transporting workers of a local mining and processing plant, head of the regional military administration, Serhiy Lysak said.
Two men, ages 40 and 48, were injured, while an agricultural production facility caught fire, after Russia launched a drone attack on the Synelnykove district on Wednesday, Lysak said.
On that same day, Russian FPV drones attacked the Nikopol district, targeting the city of Nikopol and the communities of Pokrov and Marhanets, he added. There were no casualties.
