Top diplomats of the United States, Ukraine, France, Germany and the United Kingdom have postponed a planned meeting in London, downgrading the talks on ending the war in Ukraine to discussions among their senior officials.The abrupt postponement was announced by the UK’s Foreign Office, without elaborating on the reason.
Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha is still expected to hold a bilateral meeting with British Foreign Secretary David Lammy.
Sybiha arrived in London along with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, and Defence Minister Rustem Umerov.
In a series of posts on social media, Yermak said: “Despite everything, we will work for peace.
“Today we will talk about ways to achieve a complete and unconditional ceasefire as the first step towards a full-fledged settlement process and achieving a just and sustainable peace.”
Yermak confirmed the Ukrainian delegation will still meet their US and European counterparts in London.
The downgrading in the level of diplomacy comes amid signs of mounting frustration in Washington. The discussions follow earlier negotiations in Paris and were due to focus on a ceasefire framework presented by the US last week. Advertisement
Keith Kellogg, US President Donald Trump’s envoy for Ukraine and Russia, had been due to lead the US delegation in London, although Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Secretary of State Marco Rubio had already confirmed he would not attend.
“We’re not going to continue with this endeavour for weeks and months on end,” R …
