High-level talks on Ukraine, which were due to take place in London, were abruptly postponed on Wednesday, Britain's Foreign Office announced, after several senior diplomats pulled out at the last minute.
The announcement came just hours before the start of the April 23 meetings, which were expected to include Ukraine's foreign minister.
"We can confirm that today's Ukraine Peace Talks with Foreign Ministers have been postponed," the British government told Radio Free Europe, adding that "official-level talks will continue, but they will be closed to the media."
The talks, aimed at finding a path to ending Russia's 38-month war in Ukraine, faced challenges earlier as top diplomats, including US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, cancelled their participation and undermined ongoing peace efforts.
British Foreign Secretary David Lammy also chose not to attend the meetings, Sky News reported earlier, although this has not been confirmed.
The Ukrainian delegation, including President Volodymyr Zelensky's top adviser, traveled to London, despite the postponement of the talks.
"No matter what, we will work for peace," Andriy Yermak wrote on Telegram.
Last week, Rubio and other senior Ukrainian and European officials met in Paris for talks that produced what many saw as little progress toward ending the war.
But Rubio later signaled US impatience with the state of the talks, and suggested that the United States might withdraw from involvement in the negotiations altogether.
Over the weekend, US media outlets such as the Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg and CNN reported that US negotiators have presented Ukraine with a list of possible concessions. These reportedly include possible US recognition of Russia's annexation of the Crimean Peninsula in 2014, and a definitive rejection of Ukraine's aspirations for membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
Both topics are considered unacceptable to Ukrainian President Zelensky and his government.
"Ukraine will not recognize the occupation of Crimea," he told reporters in Kiev on April 22. "It is our territory, the territory of the Ukrainian people, there is nothing to discuss here," Zelensky said./ REL (A2 Televizion)
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