Secretary of State Marco Rubio insists that the United States will impose new sanctions on Russia if the peace agreement with Ukraine does not progress and denies that Washington is easing military support for Kief.
The day after Rubio's speech in the Senate, Donald Trump spoke for two hours on a telephone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin, which failed to make a breakthrough in resolving the war in Ukraine.
Democratic politicians accused Trump of failing to put pressure on Putin to end the war, allowing Ukraine, for example, if he disagrees with a ceasefire, as demanded by U.S. European allies, he threatened further sanctions.
Rubio testified Tuesday when he testified to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee whether he would support a bill promoted by Republican Senator Lindsey Graham that would impose severe new sanctions on Russia.
The bill aims to make it harder for Russia to raise funds for the war, and would impose 500% tariffs on imports from countries that buy oil and gas, among other provisions.
"If it's actually obvious that the Russians are not interested in peace agreements and they want to continue fighting, that's likely going to end here," Rubio said.
But he added that Trump believes “Now, if we start threatening sanctions, the Russians will stop talking. It’s valuable to be able to talk to them and drive them to the table.”
Democratic committee members accused Trump of failing to use with Putin for calling for any pressure on Moscow. Senator Jeanne Shaheen said the Russian leader has not agreed to any "meaningful negotiations to end the war in Ukraine".
“As President Trump acknowledged, Vladimir Putin took him for a ride,” she told Rubio.
Senator Chris Van Hollen added: "You have worked with President Trump to put the Ukrainian people under the bus and be like a violin like Vladimir Putin."
Rubio denied Trump was gentle to Putin and insisted that Washington had “the same leverage today (Russia) as the previous administration.”
"When Vladimir Putin woke up this morning, he kept imposing the same sanctions on him when the conflict began," he said, adding that U.S. weapons were still flowing to Ukraine.
"Putin...has no concessions, he has not received any sanctions."
But he insisted that the war would only end with a negotiating solution, and that importantly, the United States did everything possible to bring both sides to the negotiating table. “What the president is trying to do is end the war.”
His comments hardly make allies frustrated by the outcome of Trump’s appeal, including any Russian commitment to an immediate ceasefire.
Instead, Putin called on both sides to draft a "memorandum" on the terms of the future peace treaty, which critics say is just a delayed strategy that allows Russia to continue fighting as negotiations proceed.
European and Ukrainian leaders are concerned about Trump’s advice after discussing the U.S. wants to get rid of its role as a mediator, suggesting that the Vatican can take over.