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Editor's note: The article was updated with a statement by the U.K. Foreign Ministry.
Chief diplomats of the U.K., France, Ukraine, and Germany would not attend the talks in London on how to end Russia's war against Ukraine, Sky News reported on April 23.
The news comes as U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff also backed out of the meeting after Kyiv rejected an alleged U.S. plan to recognize Russian occupation of Crimea as part of a peace deal.
This effectively downgrades the level of the April 23 meeting, which will instead be led by other senior officials. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha is nevertheless expected to visit London and separately meet his U.K. counterpart, David Lammy, Sky News reported.
The U.K. Foreign Ministry later confirmed that the ministerial meeting would be postponed but that officials would still hold a closed-to-the-media meeting, the Guardian reported.
The French Foreign Ministry clarified that Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot did not plan to attend the London talks due to an official visit to Iraq. Germany is to be represented by National Security Advisor Jens Plotner, and France will be represented by presidential advisor Emmanuel Bonne and senior diplomat Frederic Mondoloni, Suspilne reported.
The U.S. was reported to present Ukraine with a ceasefire proposal during talks in Paris on April 17, which included the legal recognition of Russia's annexation of the Crimean peninsula, under Russian occupation since 2014.
President Volodymyr Zelensky has ruled out such a move, stressing that the territory remains Ukraine's sovereign soil and the recognition of Russian occupation would violate the Constitution.
Zelensky warned that any discussion of Crimea risks shifting negotiations into a framework dictated by the Kremlin. He said such proposals play directly into Russian President Vladimir Putin's "game."
The rejection comes as U.S. President Donald Trump has warned he would abandon peace efforts unless there is tangible progress.
According to Axios, the U.S. delegation in London will be led by Special Envoy for Ukraine, Keith Kellogg. Kyiv reportedly hopes to discuss a 30-day ceasefire proposal during the meeting, rather than Trump's broader peace plan.
The Financial Times also reported that Putin has offered the U.S. to halt his full-scale invasion of Ukraine along the current front line, a claim disputed by the Kremlin's press office.
The Kyiv Independent news desk
