Officials from Ukraine, US and UK meet in London in latest push to stop the war

LONDON -- Officials from Britain, the U.S., European nations and Ukraine will meet in London on Wednesday to push for a peace deal between Moscow and Kyiv, amid growing report

British Defense Secretary John Healey said the meeting follows talks last week in Paris and will include “what a ceasefire might look like and how to secure peace in the long term.”

But a plan for the talks to involve foreign ministers was scrapped at the last minute after the U.S. State Department said Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who attended the Paris talks, was unable to come because of a scheduling issue.

U.K. Foreign Secretary David Lammy posted on X that the talks would now include “officials.” Those attending include retired Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg, President Donald Trump’s envoy for Ukraine and Russia.

It came amid growing speculation that the U.S. will press Ukraine to cede territory to Russia as part of a potential peace agreement.

During similar talks last week in Paris, U.S. officials presented a proposal that included allowing Russia to keep control of occupied Ukrainian territory as part of a deal, according to a European official familiar with the matter.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy pushed back against that idea, saying: "There is nothing to talk about — it is our land, the land of the Ukrainian people.”

Some European allies are wary of the American proposal. But there’s also acknowledgment by some allies that Russia is firmly entrenched wholly or partially in five regions of Ukraine — Crimea, Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson.

If the goal is to obtain a ceasefire immediately, “it should be based on the line of contact as it is,” said a senior French official. The official was not authorized to be publicly named and spoke on the condition of anonymity according to French presidential policy.

Still, Ukraine’s territorial integrity and aspirations to strengthen ties with the rest of the continent are a top priority for the Europeans, the European official said.

It remains to be seen whether the latest diplomatic efforts can lead to an endgame after more than three years of war since Russia’s full-scale invasion of its neighbor.

Britain downplayed expectations of a breakthrough, but says this is an important week for diplomatic efforts to stop more than three years of fighting since Russia’s full-scale invasion of its neighbor.

Trump said last week that negotiations were “coming to a head” and the U.S. might “take a pass” if either of the two sides didn’t move toward peace.

Rubio has also indicated the U.S. might soon back away from negotiations if they don’t progress, and suggested that Wednesday’s meeting could be decisive in determining whether the Trump administration continues its involvement.

Putin’s foreign affairs adviser, Yuri Ushakov, said U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff was expected to visit Moscow again this week. Ushakov provided no further details.

Western analysts say Moscow is in no rush to conclude peace talks, because it has battlefield momentum and wants to capture more Ukrainian land.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s spokesman, Dave Pares said “the ball’s in Russia’s court.

“Now is the time for (Russian President Vladimir) Putin to show he’s serious about peace,” he said.

Zelenskyy said Tuesday that Ukraine’s delegation heading to the U.K. has a mandate to discuss only an unconditional or partial ceasefire with Russia. He said that “after a ceasefire, we’re prepared to sit down for talks in any format.”

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov cautioned that “the settlement issue is so complex that it would be wrong to put some tight limits to it and try to set some short time frame for a settlement, a viable settlement — it would be a thankless task.”

Delegations from Russia and Ukraine have held separate talks with U.S. officials in Saudi Arabia as Trump tries to make good on his campaign promise to end the wa r.

Western analysts say Moscow is in no rush to conclude peace talks because it has battlefield momentum and wants to capture more Ukrainian land.

Russia has effectively rejected a U.S. proposal for an immediate and full 30-day halt in the fighting by imposing far-reaching conditions.

Putin declared a 30-hour unilateral ceasefire on Saturday, but Ukraine and British officials said Russian attacks continued during the alleged pause. The Associated Press was unable to verify whether a ceasefire was in place along the roughly 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) front line.

Meanwhile, both Russia and Ukraine are preparing for the spring-summer military campaign, Ukrainian and Western officials say.

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Novikov reported from Kyiv and Madhani from Washington. Angela Charlton in Paris contributed.

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Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine