US President Donald Trump will not support Europe’s request for tougher sanctions against Russia, as Washington seeks to preserve space for talks on a peace deal between Moscow and Kiev. About this stated US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in an interview with Politico.
“If we do what everyone here wants, which is to come and crush them with even more sanctions, we’re probably going to lose the ability to talk to them about a ceasefire, and then who’s going to talk to them?” Rubio explained.
He also noted that Trump “will know the right time and place” to implement new economic measures, and the administration is working with Congress to preserve the president’s decision-making flexibility. According to the state secretary, if new sanctions are introduced, it will be a signal that negotiations are no longer possible.
“If he does that, you’re effectively acknowledging that this issue is not going to be negotiable anytime soon. We’re going to continue to work together. In the sense that if we have an opportunity to change something and bring them to the negotiating table, we’re going to take it.”, – emphasized Rubio.
Since negotiations with the Russian Federation have reached an impasse, Moscow considers it possible to achieve its territorial goals on the battlefield, but the United States does not agree with this.
“Our sense is that the Russians will try to achieve on the battlefield what they demanded at the negotiating table, which is to preserve the administrative boundaries of certain territories. We think it will be much more difficult for them to achieve this than they think.”, – summed up the state secretary.
