00:00The Russia-Ukraine ceasefire talks in London are downgraded as the US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, and Special Envoy Steve Vitkoff pulled out.
00:08Now, President Trump's Ukraine envoy, General Keith Kellogg, is attending and is meeting officials from the UK, France, Germany and Ukraine.
00:16The British Foreign Minister, David Lammy, has met Ukraine's Foreign Minister as well.
00:20And Rubio spoke to Lammy on Tuesday evening saying he hoped for a substantive and good technical meetings.
00:26But by pulling out, it is a diplomatic snub.
00:30And Lammy acknowledges that this is a critical moment for Ukraine, Britain and Euro-Atlantic security, he says.
00:37Especially as the White House has confirmed that Steve Vitkoff is travelling for his fourth face-to-face meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
00:44It confirms the direct dialogue now between American and Russian officials.
00:49And the discussions to agree on a ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia, but without European leaders and without President Zelenskyy of Ukraine being involved in those talks.
01:01And this follows a report in the Financial Times newspaper that Russia might stop its attacks and give up some territorial ambitions inside Ukraine
01:10if the US government recognises that the Crimean Peninsula is a part of Russia.
01:17Now, Zelenskyy has rejected that continually, saying that Russia's control on the Crimea, and if it happens, it would violate Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity.
01:28Europe's officials see it as a false concession.
01:31Putin does not control the Ukrainian land, he says he'd give up.
01:34And secondly, the Europeans fear that Trump's desire to agree a quick peace deal would force this arrangement on Kyiv, and potentially agree to other Moscow demands too.
01:46One European diplomat is quoted as saying,
01:48you don't give up something you don't have, and this is just to trick the Americans into doing a deal.
01:55There isn't much international trust at the moment, especially as European leaders and Ukraine's government are excluded from these peace negotiations.
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