CNN: Rubio had been expected to take part in the discussions with Ukrainian, UK and European officials, but State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said Tuesday that he would no longer attend due to “logistical issues.”
London’s Foreign Office then confirmed on Wednesday that the meeting would take place at a lower level. “Official level talks will continue but these are closed to media,” the department said in a message to journalists.
The US proposal that has caused deadlock includes recognizing Russia’s control of Crimea, the southern Ukrainian peninsula illegally annexed by Moscow, an official familiar with the framework told CNN. It would also put a ceasefire in place along the front lines of the war, the official said. Any move to recognize Russia’s control of Crimea would reverse a decade of US policy. Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky made clear Tuesday that he was open to talks with Russia, but that Kyiv would not accept a deal that recognizes Moscow’s control of Crimea. CNN
“Ukraine will not legally recognize the occupation of Crimea,” he [Zelenskyy] told reporters. “There is nothing to talk about. It is against our constitution.”
Vice President Vance stated each side would need to concede territory and then said he didn’t say that. He then repeated it.
Asked to clarify about whether he meant the US wanted to freeze the territorial lines where they are, Vance said Wednesday, “No, I didn’t say that. What I said is the current line, somewhere close to them is where you’re ultimately, I think, going to draw the new lines in the conflict. Now of course, that means the Ukrainians and the Russians are both going to have to give up some of the territory they currently own. There’s gonna have to be some territorial swaps.” CNN
The dissolution of the London meeting originally came after Volodymyr Zelensky publicly rejected a US proposal that would effectively allow Vladimir Putin to keep almost all the Ukrainian territory he has seized during the war so far. Russia had offered to halt its invasion on these terms.
Mr Zelensky said of the proposal: “There is nothing to talk about – it is our land, the land of the Ukrainian people.” The Independent
