Top UK, French, German diplomats pull out of London meeting on Ukraine after U.S. secretary of state decides not to participate - media

LONDON. April 23 (Interfax) - UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot and German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock have pulled out of the London meeting on Ukraine after U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said he would not be attending the event, Sky News said on Wednesday.

"Mr. Rubio had been due to come to London to meet Mr. Lammy and the foreign ministers of Ukraine, France and Germany - but it emerged on Tuesday that he would no longer be travelling," the TV channel said.

"The top diplomats from the UK, U.S., France, Germany and Ukraine have postponed a plan to meet in London on Wednesday," it said.

Discussions will instead take place among high-ranking officials from these five countries, Sky News said, without naming them. Lammy is still due to hold a meeting with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrei Sibiga in London, it said.

The Wall Street Journal said earlier that after Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky rejected a number of points of Washington's plan for settling the Ukraine conflict, progress at the talks between the U.S., Europe and Kiev in London on Wednesday appears to be unlikely.

Specifically, Zelensky "pushed back on a U.S. proposal to recognize Russia's control of Crimea as part of a ceasefire agreement, throwing into doubt President Trump's efforts to bring an end to the war," the media outlet said.