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Rubio: Trump Holding Off on New Russia Sanctions to Preserve Ceasefire Talks
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![Photo of Dariia Mykhailenko]( "Photo of Dariia Mykhailenko")
US President Donald Trump is not yet prepared to support Europe’s push for expanded sanctions against Russia, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in an interview with Politico on June 25. According to Rubio, Washington is focused on preserving the possibility of peace talks with Moscow despite repeated Russian refusals to engage.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European leaders are reportedly seeking to convince Trump to adopt tougher measures against the Kremlin, particularly as Russian leader Vladimir Putin continues to reject US ceasefire initiatives.
“If we did what everybody here wants us to do, and that is come in and crush them with more sanctions, we probably lose our ability to talk to them about the ceasefire,” Rubio warned. “Then who’s talking to them?”
Trump will “know the right time and place” to implement new economic measures, and the administration is working with Congress to ensure he has the necessary flexibility, Rubio said. However, he cautioned that once such measures are imposed, it would likely signal that the window for negotiations with Russia has closed.
“If Trump does it, you’re almost admitting that this is not going to be negotiated anytime soon,” US Secretary stated.
Despite Kremlin`s ongoing aggression, Rubio insisted that the United States remains committed to finding diplomatic off-ramps. He also criticized Russia’s belief that it can achieve territorial gains through force.
“Our sense of it is that the Russians are going to try to achieve in the battlefield what they’ve demanded in the negotiating table, which is certain territories maintain their administrative lines and the like,” he said. “We think it’s going to be a lot harder for them to achieve that than they think it’s going to be.”
Earlier, it was reported that US President Donald Trump is expected to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on June 25, during the NATO summit in The Hague.
The meeting comes amid shifting global priorities, as international attention turns toward escalating tensions between Israel and Iran, while Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine enters its fourth year.
