U.S. officials, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Special Envoy Steve Whitcoff, canceled their planned visit to London last week.
According to the New York Times, the reason for the cancellation was Ukraine’s dissatisfaction with several of the U.S. proposals regarding the settlement of the conflict in Ukraine.
Initially, Rubio and Whitcoff were scheduled to hold talks with Ukrainian officials in London. However, the visit was called off after Ukrainian representatives, particularly aides to President Volodymyr Zelensky, expressed objections to key elements of the U.S. proposals presented earlier in talks in Paris on April 17.
The publication further notes that after the cancellation of Rubio and Whitcoff’s visit, the British Foreign Ministry announced that talks on Ukraine would still take place in London, but at a lower level. The ministerial-level meeting was postponed.
Additionally, despite the cancellation of the high-level visits by U.S. diplomats, other American officials still participated in the negotiations in London. Reuters, citing a relevant document, reported that during the April 17 talks in Paris, Whitcoff presented a list of proposals to Ukraine and Europe regarding the resolution of the conflict. These included a permanent ceasefire, the commencement of negotiations between Kyiv and Moscow, recognition of Crimea and the four new regions under Russia’s control, and Ukraine’s renouncement of NATO membership. The proposals also included the lifting of sanctions on Russia.
