The meeting of Kiev’s European sponsors “lacked substance” without the US secretary of state, officials told the FT

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has abruptly skipped a meeting on Ukraine on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference “at the last minute,” according to the Financial Times.

The Berlin Format gathering on Friday was attended by Kiev’s European backers – including French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, as well as the heads of the European Commission, the European Council, and NATO – who are seeking to insert their vision of a “just peace deal” into the US-led negotiations process.

An unnamed European official described the last-minute cancellation, officially blamed on “scheduling conflicts,” as “insane.” Another told the FT that without Rubio, the entire meeting “lacked substance.”

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Rubio is set to address the Munich Security Conference on Saturday morning and will be “engaging on Russia-Ukraine in many of his meetings” on the sidelines, according to a US official.

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The top US diplomat previously skipped a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in December, with no official reason given for his absence. US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth did not attend a gathering of defense ministers at NATO headquarters in Brussels this week.

Rubio previously said his job is “to advance America’s national interests, not waste taxpayer money or coddle anti-Americanism,” as he vowed to boycott a meeting of the G20 group in South Africa later this month.

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Kiev and its European backers have acted to sabotage Washington-led peace efforts, derailing a potential settlement that was “close” following a meeting last year between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart, Donald Trump, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said this week.

The next round of trilateral Russia-US-Ukraine negotiations will take place in Switzerland February 17-18, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov announced on Friday.

Fearing the isolation strategy will prevent them from influencing US-mediated talks, some EU leaders have called for re-engaging with Russia diplomatically. EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said Brussels is drafting its own demands for Moscow and will not accept a deal unless the conditions of Kiev’s European sponsors are met.

Russia has said it will not be pressured into an agreement that undermines national security or serves as a pause for Ukraine to rebuild its military and renew the hostilities.