A planned meeting in London was postponed by top US, Ukrainian, French, German, and British diplomats, lowering the focus of the discussions on ending the conflict in Ukraine to senior officials’ discussions.
The UK Foreign Office announced the abrupt postponement without giving specifics about the cause.
Andrii Sybiha, the foreign minister of Ukraine, and David Lammy, the foreign secretary of the UK, are scheduled to meet bilaterally.
Andriy Yermak, the head of state for President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and Rustem Umerov, the defense minister, were among Sybiha’s arrivals in London.
Despite everything, we will work for peace, Yermak declared in a string of social media posts.
We will discuss ways to reach a full and unconditional ceasefire as the first step toward a just and sustainable peace as well as a full-fledged settlement.
Yermak confirmed that the Ukrainian delegation would still travel to London to meet with their American and European counterparts.
The diplomatic diplomacy has been lowered in response to Washington’s mounting frustration. Following earlier discussions in Paris, the US was scheduled to place a focus on a ceasefire framework last week.
Although Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Secretary of State Marco Rubio had already confirmed he would not attend, Keith Kellogg, US President Donald Trump’s envoy for Ukraine and Russia, was scheduled to lead the US delegation in London.
Following the Paris talks, Rubio declared to reporters, “We won’t go on with this for weeks or months.” He warned that Trump might soon switch to “other priorities.”
There is nothing to discuss, the statement goes.
The framework includes a contentious provision that requires Ukraine to acknowledge Russia’s annexation of Crimea, according to officials briefed on the US-released proposal in Paris.
Kyiv has vehemently opposed the document, which US officials have referred to as Trump’s “final offer.”
There is nothing to discuss, they say. Our Constitution is inviolated by this. During a briefing in Kiev on Tuesday, Zelenskyy claimed that this is our territory and that the Ukrainian people are theirs.
In addition to concerns that more ground could be ceded in the partially occupied regions of Kherson, Donetsk, Luhansk, and Zaporizhia, Kyiv fears that Crimea, which was annexed by Russia in 2014, may be one of the potential concessions being considered.
The discussions begin with the format that Russia wants, prolonging the war, because it won’t be possible to come to a consensus right away, Zelenenskyy continued.
Zelenskyy once more reaffirmed that any progress in negotiations could only be made once the Russian hostilities were put an end to.
Nine people were killed in Dnipropetrovsk.
According to the Financial Times newspaper, Russian President Vladimir Putin has reportedly offered to stop fighting on the current front lines as part of a potential agreement.
The offer comes after Moscow declared a 30-hour Easter truce that both sides had accused one another of violating.
Yuri Ushakov, Putin’s top adviser for foreign policy, predicted that Witkoff would travel to Moscow this week for further discussions.
However, Dmitry Peskov, a spokesman for the Kremlin, cautioned against rushing things.
It would be wrong to try to set a short timeframe for a settlement, a viable settlement, because the settlement issue is so complex, he said.
Defence Secretary John Healey charged Russia with purposefully stalling the peace process in the UK’s House of Commons on Tuesday.
Putin has said he broke the Easter truce, while Putin claims to want peace, that he wants a full ceasefire, and that he is still trying to win back the negotiations, he said.
Russian forces are now launching more attacks on civilian infrastructure as diplomatic efforts get going. Overnight drone strikes have struck a number of Ukrainian targets.
Nine people were killed in Marhanets when a drone attacked a bus carrying workers, according to Serhiy Lysak, the Dnipropetrovsk region governor.
According to regional governor Oleh Kiper, two people were hurt in Odesa and several fires started after another drone struck civilian infrastructure.
According to Al Jazeera’s Zein Basravi, who was based in Kyiv and reports from Kyiv, attacks have also occurred in Kherson, Kharkiv, Poltava, and Dnipro.
