Rubio concerned that Ukraine may return to hardline positions in peace talks – Reuters

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio is concerned that Ukraine may return to hardline positions in talks to end the war.

This is reported by Reuters, citing a European official.

Thus, the official reported that Rubio expressed concern to the British side that Ukraine may return to its most hardline positions, which would make any breakthrough in the negotiations impossible.

Recall that talks between the United States, Ukraine and European officials on ending russia's war in Ukraine, which were to take place in London on Wednesday, April 23, collapsed when US Secretary of State Marco Rubio unexpectedly canceled his trip to London.

Rubio's absence led to the cancellation of a broader meeting of the foreign ministers of Ukraine, Britain, France and Germany, although the talks continued at a lower level. The US will now be represented by US special envoy General Keith Kellogg.

The downgrade comes at a critical juncture, days after US President Donald Trump warned that Washington could walk away from the talks if progress on a deal is not made soon.

Late on Tuesday night, Rubio spoke with British Foreign Secretary David Lammy and said he hoped to postpone his trip to the coming months after “technical meetings” on Wednesday.

Speaking ahead of his arrival in London with the foreign and defence ministers, Ukrainian presidential adviser Andrii Yermak said the talks would focus on achieving a complete and unconditional ceasefire as a first step towards peace.

“No matter what, we will work for peace,” he wrote on social media.

As the Ukrainian News agency earlier reported, meanwhile, US Vice President J.D. Vance said that the United States would refuse to mediate in negotiations between russia and Ukraine if the US proposal is rejected.

Earlier, the media reported that one of the options for the so-called "final" peace agreement that the US handed over to Ukraine involves recognizing Crimea as part of russia and recognizing control over the occupied territories. However, the document spells out security and restoration guarantees for Ukraine extremely vaguely.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy denied that the US had officially proposed recognizing the annexed Crimea as russian, although American representatives had discussed such ideas. He stressed that Ukraine does not legally recognize the occupation of Crimea.