Rubio comments on potential Russia sanctions

He made the remarks in an interview with Fox News, the transcript of which was released by the U.S. State Department on Monday, according to Ukrinform.

“Well, we fully understand the sanctions that we have available to us, and at some point the President may decide to do that,” said the head of U.S. diplomacy.

That was his response to a question about how much longer the President will give Putin before he moves forward with the sanctions that have been threatened.

“That’ll be his decision to make.  He’s not going to go around and artificially announce a time frame,” Rubio added.

At the same time, the Secretary of State reminded that President Trump wants Europe to take similar action.

“There are still countries in Europe that are buying Russian products, including Russian oil.  And what the President has challenged our European partners is to impose the sanctions themselves that they’re asking us to impose,” said the Secretary of State.

Rubio also rejected claims that Putin was emboldened by the Alaska meeting, after which he escalated attacks on Ukraine and conducted drone strikes on Polish territory.

As Ukrinform reported, the day before, U.S. President Donald Trump reaffirmed his position on sanctions against Russia, stating that he would only implement them if Europe increased pressure on Moscow and stopped buying Russian oil.