European Council president Herman Van Rompuy has cancelled a confidential trip to Russia on Wednesday to meet President Vladimir Putin, diplomatic sources said Tuesday.

“The mission was cancelled because the Russians made it public,” a diplomatic source speaking on condition of anonymity told AFP.

Several EU diplomats had confirmed earlier that Van Rompuy would head to Russia to meet Putin for talks strategically held on the eve of a two-day European Union summit expected to be dominated by events in Ukraine and Crimea.

“We need someone who can talk directly to Putin,” one diplomatic source had said.

The aim of his mission was to convey Europe’s rejection of Russia’s move to absorb Crimea as well as “to discuss de-escalation and the prevention of further destabilisation,” another source said.

In a joint statement earlier, the bloc’s two top officials, Van Rompuy and European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso, had said the EU “will not recognise the annexation” of Crimea by Russia.

“The European Union does neither recognise the illegal and illegitimate referendum in Crimea nor its outcome.

“The European Union does not and will not recognise the annexation of Crimea and Sevastopol to the Russian Federation,” their statement said, EU Business informs.