The foreign ministers of the UK, France, Germany and Ukraine have postponed the planned negotiations on ending the Russian-Ukrainian war, which were scheduled to be held in London on 23 April, Sky News has reported.
According to the British TV channel, discussions on the peace plan will continue for the time being at the level of senior officials, but not foreign policy chiefs.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sibiga will still come to London to meet with British Foreign Minister David Lammy despite the lowered level of negotiations, according to Sky News, while US Presidential Special Envoy Keith Kellogg will meet with French and German officials.
The top-level meeting was cancelled after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio refused to travel to London for the negotiations, reportedly due to ‘logistical scheduling problems’. As soon as the news broke, Sky News notes, France and Germany suspended preparations for their ministers’ visit to London. It is thought that the ministerial meeting may take place at a later date.
The US was expected to propose recognising Crimea as a Russian territory at the negotiations in London. According to The New York Times, this is one of the key US proposals to end the war. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on 22 April that Kiev would not recognise Crimea as a Russian territory because it contradicts the Ukrainian constitution. According to Axios, Ukraine planned to discuss a 30-day ceasefire at the negotiations in London, not the framework of Donald Trump’s peace plan.
The US authorities are ready to abandon discussions on ending the Russian-Ukrainian war if they do not see clear signs that the sides are ready to conclude an agreement, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said earlier in April.
