Rubio to skip Ukraine talks after Zelensky rejects key details of US proposal

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will not attend talks in London on Wednesday aimed at working towards ending Russia's war in Ukraine, after Kiev signaled it would reject a key detail of the Trump administration's proposal to end the three-year conflict.

Rubio was expected to participate in discussions with Ukrainian, British and European officials, but State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce said on Tuesday that he would no longer participate due to "logistical issues," the Telegraph reports.

President Donald Trump's special envoy for Ukraine and Russia, Keith Kellogg, will represent the U.S. in his place, Bruce said.

The talks follow a meeting in Paris last week, in which officials from the US, UK, France and Germany discussed a US framework for a ceasefire.

The proposal includes recognizing Russia's control of Crimea, the southern Ukrainian peninsula illegally annexed by Moscow in 2014, an official familiar with the framework told CNN.

He would also establish a ceasefire along the front lines of the war, the official said.

Any move to recognize Russia's control of Crimea would change a decade of American policy.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky made it clear on Tuesday that he was open to talks with Russia, but that Kiev would not accept an agreement that recognizes Moscow's control of Crimea.

"Ukraine will not legally recognize the occupation of Crimea," he told reporters.

"There's nothing to talk about. It's against our constitution," he added.

Rubio said in a post on X that he had a “productive conversation” with British Foreign Secretary David Lammy, who is looking forward to Wednesday’s meeting, and that he “(looks) forward to continuing” with the United Kingdom and Ukraine at a later date.

The talks in London come after US officials have publicly expressed frustration at the lack of progress in ending the war.

Trump has said he would "have to see an enthusiasm for wanting to end it" from both sides for the US to continue negotiations, after Rubio warned last week that Washington could walk away from its efforts to end the conflict if there were no signs of progress. /Telegraph