Ukraine peace talks with foreign ministers in London postponed
The peace talks, scheduled to take place in London today and to have been hosted by British foreign secretary David Lammy, have been downgraded to official talks, and closed to the media.
In a statement, the UK’s Foreign Office said “the Ukraine peace talks meeting with foreign ministers today is being postponed. Official level talks will continue but these are closed to media.”
More details soon …
Key events
Dan Sabbagh
Dan Sabbagh is the Guardian’s defence and security editor
The UK Foreign Office has confirmed that ministerial Ukraine peace talks with US and European counterparts due to be held today have been postponed, amid speculation that Russia has abandoned its claims to Ukrainian territory it does not occupy, and after US secretary of state Marco Rubio said he could not attend.
A short statement from the Foreign Office announced that ministerial meetings that had been scheduled to start this morning would not now take place and would be replaced by behind the scenes discussions held by officials, clarifying a carefully worded statement made late last night by foreign secretary David Lammy after he had spoken to Rubio.
Posting on social media just before midnight, Lammy said his discussions with Rubio were productive but hinted that they would take place at a slightly lower level. “Talks continue at pace and officials will meet in London tomorrow. This is a critical moment for Ukraine, Britain and Euro-Atlantic security,” he had said.
Britain had placed an important emphasis on the talks, with delegations from France and Germany also due to participate, but the downgrade to the discussions comes as leaks suggest that Russia is willing to abandon its territorial claims to three Ukrainian regions it only partially occupies in return for the US recognising the annexation of Crimea.
Rubio indicated he would be “rescheduling my trip to the UK in the coming months”.
Ukraine claims to have shot down 67 out of 134 drones used in Russian attacks overnight
Suspilne, Ukraine’s state broadcaster, citing the Ukrainian air force, reports that overnight Ukraine claimed to have shot down 67 out of 134 drones used in Russian attacks.
Additionally the air force reported that 47 drones did not reach their target. Attacks, it said, happened in the Kharkiv, Poltava, Donetsk, Odesa, Dnipropetrovsk, and Zaporizhia regions.
A Russian drone hit a bus carrying workers in the Ukrainian city of Marhanets early on Wednesday, killing at least nine people and wounding 30 others, according to officials. At least six people were reported injured in the Poltava region.
Local officials in Kherson reported an attack on energy infrastructure by Russia, and warned of the potential for power supply disruptions.
High-level peace talks, which had been due to be held in London, have been postponed and downgraded, after it became clear that US secretary of state Marco Rubio would not be attending.
In a statement, the UK’s Foreign Office said “the Ukraine peace talks meeting with foreign ministers today is being postponed. Official level talks will continue but these are closed to media.”
Overnight Rubio and the UK’s foreign secretary David Lammy exchanged messages on social media, saying they had enjoyed “productive” talks, with Lammy describing it as “a critical moment for Ukraine, Britain and Euro-Atlantic security.”
Reports in both the Financial Times and by Axios have suggested that the outline of a deal might involve a ceasefire along the existing frontline, the US recognising that Crimea is Russian, and a US veto on Ukraine joining Nato.
Ukraine peace talks with foreign ministers in London postponed
The peace talks, scheduled to take place in London today and to have been hosted by British foreign secretary David Lammy, have been downgraded to official talks, and closed to the media.
In a statement, the UK’s Foreign Office said “the Ukraine peace talks meeting with foreign ministers today is being postponed. Official level talks will continue but these are closed to media.”
More details soon …
Ukraine’s emergency service has issued these pictures from the scene of a drone strike on a bus in Marhanets that killed at least nine people and wounded 30 others, according to officials.
Ahead of the talks in London today, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy indicated his country was open to an unconditional ceasefire. On Tuesday night he said “If we are ready for an unconditional ceasefire – it means silence at sea, in the air, and at the front, on the ground – Ukraine is ready to take the relevant steps.”
Overnight, US secretary of state Marco Rubio and the UK foreign secretary David Lammy exchanged pleasantries in public, both saying they had enjoyed “productive” talks.
Lammy said “The UK is working with the US, Ukraine and Europe for peace and to put an end to Putin’s illegal invasion. This is a critical moment for Ukraine, Britain and Euro-Atlantic security.”
Nimo Omer
For today’s First Edition newsletter, my colleague Nimo Omer spoke to the Guardian’s defence and security editor, Dan Sabbagh:
Though Vladimir Putin has paid lip service to the idea of peace, he has not seemed “particularly serious in his desire”, Dan Sabbagh says, in part because Moscow has continued to pursue its maximalist objectives of controlling all of Ukraine’s partially occupied provinces – Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson.
However, according to a report in the Financial Times, the Kremlin has said that it would halt its invasion of Ukraine along the current frontline if the US agreed that Crimea belonged to Russia. Ukraine has rejected any Russian claim on Crimea.
The overall US proposal, thought to be linked to Trump’s threats to walk away from the table completely, is perhaps the first time since the early days of the war that Moscow is stepping back from its maximalist demands. On top of “de-facto recognition” of most of the occupied territories, a plan reported by Axios also includes assurances to Russia that Ukraine will not become a part of Nato, the lifting of sanctions against Russia and bigger economic cooperation between Russia and the US.
After today’s meetings in London, the US is expected to relay Ukraine’s response to Putin, as Witkoff is set to visit Moscow later this week in his fourth meeting with the Russian president.
Ukraine’s priority seems to still be a 30-day ceasefire, as opposed to pivoting to this new US-led framework. How this will shake out in negotiations, as Trump grows increasingly tempestuous, is unclear.
Read more of Nimo Omer and Dan Sabbagh’s discussion here: Wednesday briefing – Can the latest ceasefire talks in London break the stalemate in Ukraine?
The press service of Ukraine’s emergency services has issued these photographs of first responders at the scenes of Russian attacks overnight in Kharkiv and Poltova.
Suspilne, Ukraine’s state broadcaster, reports that an energry facility in Kherson has been destroyed by a Russian attack. Citing regional governor Oleksandr Prokudin, it reported that “Energy workers are trying to stabilize the energy situation in the city. Forced outages are possible in the near future.”
At least nine killed by Russian drone attack on bus in Marhanets
A Russian drone hit a bus carrying workers in the Ukrainian city of Marhanets early on Wednesday, killing nine people in a wave of attacks that targeted civilian infrastructure in east, south and central Ukraine, officials said.
“The Russians attacked a bus with employees of the enterprise who were on their way to work in Marhanets,” Mykola Lukashuk, head of the Dnipropetrovsk region council, said on Telegram.
Serhiy Lysak, governor of the Dnipropetrovsk region, which includes Marhanets, in central-southern Ukraine, said nine people were killed in the attack, with at least 30 injured.
Reuters reports Ukraine’s emergency service said that there was also an attack on the Synelnykivskyi district in the Dnipropetrovsk region that injured two people and sparked a fire at an agricultural enterprise.
Russia also launched “a massive” drone attack on the central Ukrainian region of Poltava, injuring at least six people, the emergency service said in a post on Telegram messaging app. “Solely the city’s civilian infrastructure was under enemy attacks,” the emergency service said.
London to host US and European negotiators for ceasefire talks
Dan Sabbagh and Luke Harding report from Kyiv
David Lammy, the British foreign secretary, will host US and European negotiators for fresh talks about Ukraine on Wednesday amid speculation that Russia has told Washington it might be willing to drop its claim to parts of Ukraine it does not occupy.
The price would include the US making concessions to Moscow such as recognising the 2014 annexation of Crimea, though Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said no such proposal had been shared with him by the White House and that his country could not endorse it.
The emerging US-Russia plan would envisage a ceasefire along roughly the existing frontlines once Moscow’s territorial demand has been dropped, leaks suggest – something that Ukraine has indicated it could accept, as long it did not have to recognise Russian occupation as permanent or legal.
Ukraine would be prevented by a US veto from joining Nato, a point largely accepted by a reluctant Kyiv. The only future security guarantees for Ukraine would be provided by a UK/French-led 30-country “coalition of the willing” to provide a “reassurance force”, but this would not include the US.
It had been hoped that Marco Rubio, the US secretary of state, would attend the talks, but the state department said on Tuesday that would no longer be possible and that Keith Kellogg, the White House’s Ukraine envoy, would be present instead.
Welcome and opening summary …
Good morning, welcome to our rolling coverage of the war in Ukraine. Here are the headlines …
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US and European allies will join their UK and Ukraine counterparts in London for the latest round of peace talks
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Leaks have suggested an emerging US-Russia plan would envisage a ceasefire along roughly the existing frontlines, with Moscow dropping further territorial demands, and the US recognising Russia’s occupation of Crimea
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Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said no such proposal about Crimea had been shared with him, by the White House and that his country could not endorse it
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Ukraine would be prevented by a US veto from ever joining Nato, a point now largely accepted by a reluctant Kyiv
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A Russian drone hit a bus carrying workers in the Ukrainian city of Marhanets early on Wednesday, killing nine people in a wave of attacks that targeted civilian infrastructure in east, south and central Ukraine, officials said