U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Steve Witkoff, a key American player in negotiations with Moscow, withdrew from talks, citing a scheduling conflict.Pool photo by Ludovic Marin/AFP via Getty Images

Rubio and Witkoff bail on crucial Ukraine talks amid Crimea split – POLITICO

· POLITICO

LONDON — A London-hosted Ukraine summit was thrown into disarray Wednesday after top U.S. representatives pulled out at the eleventh hour and Ukraine pushed back at proposals from Donald Trump's administration to recognize Russia's illegal 2014 annexation of Crimea.

The U.K. is instead hosting dramatically scaled-back talks after U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Steve Witkoff, a key American player in negotiations with Moscow, withdrew from the gathering, citing a scheduling conflict.

The pair canceled in a last-minute about-face that underscores tensions between the Trump team and its European allies over the fate of the Ukraine-Russia war.