US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Tuesday abruptly cancelled plans to attend the UK-hosted high-level talks, which will kick off this morning in London, aimed at ending Russia’s war in Ukraine, Kyiv Post’s Washington correspondent reports.
In a social media post, Rubio announced that he had “a productive conversation” with his British counterpart, David Lammy, ahead of what he described would be “substantive and good technical meetings with Ukrainian and UK counterparts.”
JOIN US ON TELEGRAM
Follow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official.
“I look forward to following up after the ongoing discussions in London and rescheduling my trip to the UK in the coming months,” Rubio noted on X.
State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce confirmed the move during a daily briefing, telling reporters that Rubio’s change of plans was not a reflection of Washington’s expectations of the London meetings. White House special envoy Lt. Gen. (ret.) Keith Kellogg will lead the American delegation in Rubio’s stead, she confirmed.
Advertisement
“In this particular instance, while the meetings in London are still occurring, [Rubio] will not be attending. But that is not a statement regarding the meetings. It’s a statement about logistical issues in his schedule,” Bruce insisted. “As we know, Secretary Rubio is a busy man,” she said.
US President Donald Trump, together with Rubio, “wants this to be solved diplomatically,” Bruce went on to add.
Other Topics of Interest
‘Why Wait?’ – Ukraine Peace Talks: What Are Kyiv and Moscow’s Demands?
“After a ceasefire, we are ready to sit down in any format,” including direct talks with Moscow, Zelensky said last week.
Today’s meeting in London follows the France-hosted similar gathering last week during which Rubio, along with Trump envoys Steve Witkoff and Keith Kellogg, presented the White House’s peace plan, with America’s top diplomat suggesting that they would walk away from attempting to facilitate a peace deal if there’s no progress on negotiations, even as the administration makes clear that Trump wants to end the violence.
Trump himself said Sunday that he hoped Kyiv and Moscow “will make a deal this week.”
Advertisement
It wasn’t immediately clear whether the absence of the Secretary of State meant any change in the White House’s expectation, but speaking to Kyiv Post Tuesday night, a former US official who until recently had been involved in Russia-Ukraine issues warned against, what the official called, “peace talk fatigue.”
“It should be noted that this [Trump] administration has a pretty limited attention span, and on top of all the other pressing world issues, this subject – Ukraine and Russia – might rapidly become very boring to the President himself,” the former official said.
Trump said repeatedly on the campaign trail that he would end the war “overnight” if he were elected. However, in the early weeks of his presidency, he grew critical of Ukraine, pressing Kyiv to agree to a ceasefire while easing many of the measures the Biden administration had taken to punish Russia for its full-scale invasion of its neighbour.
Rubio’s decision to cancel his trip to London also came just hours after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stated Tuesday that his country would not legally recognize Crimea’s occupation, commenting on media reports suggesting the US proposal might include recognizing Crimea as Russian.
Advertisement
“Ukraine will not legally recognize the occupation of Crimea,” Zelensky told reporters. “It is against our constitution.”
Similar statements were also issued by European leaders.
“Crimea is Ukraine,” AFP quoted EU’s chief diplomat Kaja Kallas as saying, and making it clear the EU would never recognize the Russian-occupied Crimean peninsula as legally Russian.
Separately, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said in an interview with French public broadcaster FranceInfo that it was important to lay out Europe’s “red lines” to the US regarding any potential peace deal in Ukraine.
“The only objective that concerns us is the defense of French interests and European security. …That’s why, as the US decides to place itself in the mediator position, we are making them hear what our red lines are.”
The White House said Tuesday afternoon that while London talks continue, Trump envoy Witkoff plans to visit Moscow this week.
Speaking to reporters, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt described a meeting that she witnessed at the Oval Office between Trump and Witkoff, saying that they “wanted everyone to know that the negotiations are ongoing.”
Advertisement
“We feel again, we’re hopefully moving in the right direction” she concluded.
Alex Raufoglu
Alex Raufoglu is Kyiv Post's Chief Correspondent in Washington DC. He covers the US State Department, regularly traveling with US Secretary of State. Raufoglu has worked extensively in the South Caucasus and Black Sea regions for several international broadcast outlets, such as VoA, BBC, RFE/RL, etc. He holds an MA in Interactive Journalism from American University, Washington DC.
