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Talks between the US, Ukraine and European officials to discuss ending Russia’s full-scale invasion were supposed to take place in London on Wednesday — however, the meeting was downgraded to a lower level when US Secretary of State Marco Rubio cancelled his participation.

Instead, Washington has sent in its Ukraine envoy, retired General Keith Kellogg, who has been absent from some of the most important stages of the negotiations since the new US administration took office.

Ukraine is represented in London by Presidential Office head Andriy Yermak, Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, and Defence Minister Rustem Umerov, who are currently meeting with European national security advisors and US officials.

On Sunday, US President Donald Trump applied additional pressure by saying that he hoped Moscow and Kyiv would make a deal this week to end Russia’s war, now in its fourth year.

His plan reportedly includes the US recognising Russian control over Crimea, which Moscow annexed when it first invaded Ukraine in 2014.

What went wrong?

The US reportedly presented its peace proposal last week during a meeting with Ukrainian officials in Paris. The proposal allegedly includes Washington’s recognition of the occupation of Ukrainian territories in Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions.

The deal would also prevent Ukraine from joining NATO but permit EU membership, lift sanctions imposed on Russia since 2014, and include deeper energy and economic cooperation between the US and Russia.

In return, the US promises Ukraine a “robust security guarantee” backed by European countries and possibly non-European, like-minded countries, Axios reported on Wednesday, citing sources who spoke under the condition of anonymity.

There are few concessions from Russia included in the reported plan, apart from Kyiv regaining control of the occupied part of the Kharkiv region.

The US expected Ukraine to respond to its peace plan in London on Wednesday, according to reports.

However, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy ruled out the recognition of Russia’s annexation of Crimea as part of any potential deal and reiterated that there could be no peace talks before a complete ceasefire.

What now?

Ukraine will not legally recognise Russia’s occupation of Crimea under any circumstances, Zelenskyy said on Tuesday during a briefing in Kyiv.

“There is nothing to talk about. This violates our constitution. This is our territory, the territory of the people of Ukraine,” Zelenskyy insisted.

He also added that the Ukrainian delegation going to London has a mandate to discuss terms for a full or partial ceasefire with Russia. “Ukraine is ready to negotiate with Russia in any format but only after an unconditional halt to hostilities,” he added.

Speaking on his arrival in London with the foreign and defence ministers, Ukraine’s Yermak said the talks would focus on ways to achieve a full and unconditional ceasefire as a first step to peace.

“Despite everything, we will work for peace,” Yermak said in a post on social media.

Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister Yuliia Svyrydenko said Kyiv will not accept a peace agreement that would give the Kremlin a chance to regroup for further attacks, and views a complete ceasefire as “the necessary first step”.

“As Ukraine’s delegation meets with partners in London today, we reaffirm a principled position: Ukraine is ready to negotiate — but not to surrender,” Svyrydenko said.

Earlier, Putin had offered the US to stop the invasion of Ukraine along the current front line, according to an FT report.

Its sources said that the Russian leader told US President’s Special Envoy for the Middle East Steve Witkoff last week that the Kremlin could give up “claims” to the unoccupied parts of four regions of Ukraine, which Moscow has never controlled.

Moscow denied the claims, calling them “media fabrications,” according to the Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov.

“Any drafts of various regulatory options cannot be made public. In fact, as soon as they become public, they lose their effectiveness,” Peskov said.