US secretary of state Marco Rubio has skipped a meeting with European leaders on the war in Ukraine, in a move seen by European capitals as signalling Washington’s waning interest in involving them in its efforts to solve the conflict.
Rubio was set to attend the meeting with leaders from countries including Germany, Poland, Finland and the European Commission in Munich on Friday afternoon, but cancelled at the last minute because of scheduling conflicts.
“The secretary won’t be attending the Berlin Format meeting on Ukraine given the number of meetings he has happening at the same time,” a US official said. “He’s engaging on Russia-Ukraine in many of his meetings here in Munich.”