The spokesman of the US State Department said on Tuesday (April 22) that Secretary of State Marco Rubio will not attend the peace talks between Ukraine and European officials in London this week due to logistical issues.
The spokesman stated, “As far as we know, Secretary Rubio is a very busy person.” The spokesman added, “This is not a statement about the talks, but rather a statement regarding logistical issues in his schedule.”
The London talks come after Rubio and President Trump’s special representative for Middle East issues, Steve Witkoff, met with European leaders in Paris last week to discuss efforts to end the conflict in Ukraine. Keith Kellogg, Trump’s special representative for Ukraine and Russia issues and a retired lieutenant general, will represent the United States at the upcoming meeting.
Regarding the ongoing four-year war between Russia and Ukraine, the spokesman stated that Trump and Rubio “hope to resolve the issue through diplomatic means.”
After the Paris talks on Friday, Rubio hinted that if the Russia-Ukraine negotiations do not progress, the US may “pivot” away from trying to broker a peace agreement between the two countries, although the White House has made it clear that Trump wants to end the violence. He told reporters that if there is no significant progress in the peace talks between Russia and Ukraine soon, President Trump will abandon mediation efforts.
He said, “We will not continue this effort for weeks or months, we need (both sides) to make decisions very quickly now, I mean whether it can be determined within the next few weeks… The President has put a lot of time and effort into this… It’s important, but there are many other truly important things going on that deserve equal or even more attention.”
In February, the mineral agreement between the two countries was not signed as scheduled following a dispute between Ukrainian President Zelenskiy and President Trump and Vice President JD Vance at the White House.
(Information source referenced from “The Capitol Hill Times”)