INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
officials.His warning came after London talks between officials from the UK, France, Germany, Ukraine and the US aimed at securing a
ceasefire were downgraded after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and special envoy Steve Witkoff pulled out.The US is focused on talks this
week in Moscow, where Witkoff will meet Russian President Vladimir Putin for the fourth time, as the pace of diplomacy to end the war
hosting a bilateral meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart also on Wednesday.There is growing speculation that Russia might be willing to
halt its invasion along current front lines in return for significant concessions.However, there is little clarity about where the latest
suggested this was being considered by the US and the Kremlin.Russia intensified its attacks on Ukraine on Wednesday, after a brief lull
over Easter when it halted air strikes.Nine people were killed and dozens more wounded in the eastern Ukrainian city of Marhanets when a
Russian drone hit a bus carrying workers.Officials in the southern region of Kherson said a key facility supplying electricity had been
destroyed after coming under repeated Russian attack.The UK Foreign Office confirmed on Wednesday that talks between foreign ministers had
why Rubio and Witkoff had pulled out of the London talks.The US state department blamed logistical reasons, but it was clear the decision
was last-minute and left the Foreign Office wrongfooted.Rubio spoke to the UK foreign secretary on Tuesday evening about what he hoped would
because the Americans felt they had nothing new to say since they last met in Paris last week - or they may have realised the Ukrainians
were likely to reject the latest US ceasefire plan and did not want to hear bad news.The White House said Witkoff would travel to Moscow
this week for his fourth meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.All this comes amid a report in the Financial Times that Russia might
be ready to halt its invasion along existing front lines and give up territorial claims to areas it does not currently occupy, in return for
only be politically impossible for Zelensky to accept, it would also be contrary to post-war international legal norms that borders should
all sides since Russia invaded Ukraine on 24 February 2022, and nearly seven million Ukrainians are currently listed as refugees
Russia then annexed Crimea and backed militants in bloody fighting in eastern Ukraine.Source: BBC--Agencies
