U
S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio strongly commented on the situation surrounding the Biden administration's stance regarding Russia and Ukraine, denying any allegations that the president allegedly made concessions to Vladimir Putin. Speaking before the Senate during a hearing, the politician made an unequivocal statement: under current conditions, the U.S. has not yielded even an inch, and sanctions against Russia remain in place. He added that in response to Moscow’s actions, including supplying weapons to Ukraine, there have been no concessions or gradual compromises from the American administration. According to Rubio, President Putin woke up this morning and saw no changes in U.S. policy toward Russia. "Sanctions remain in effect, aid to Ukraine in the form of weapons continues, and there are no preconditions for relaxing or lifting these measures," he emphasized. He also stressed that Putin has received no favorable concessions and that the situation remains as it was before. This comment was made in response to quotes from Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen, who expressed the opinion that the Russian leader is exploiting Trump’s patience and playing on his weaknesses. "Putin is simply playing with Trump, hoping that the American president will back down, allowing him to continue his aggressive policy," she noted. Shaheen also added that due to Russia’s support from China and considering that the U.S. president has reduced leverage over Moscow, Vladimir Putin allegedly does not feel enough pressure and is therefore not interested in a quick peaceful resolution to the conflict. At the same time, Rubio emphasized that Trump had already spoken with Vladimir Putin by phone the day before, and his stance remains unchanged. The U.S. president, according to him, currently does not wish to impose new sanctions on Russia—unlike the European Union, which announced Tuesday that it would tighten restrictive measures. "If it turns out that Russia does not seek a diplomatic resolution to the conflict and simply wants to continue the war, we can fully pursue that path," Rubio stated. He also explained that Trump advocates for maintaining an open dialogue with Moscow and agrees with the view that pressure through sanctions might have limited effect. "If we start threatening additional measures, the Russians might stop communicating with us — and it’s important for me to be able to negotiate and influence the situation," the Secretary of State added. Recall that on May 19, Trump stated that Ukraine and Russia should "immediately" begin negotiations to end the war. In his tweet, he did not mention the final unconditional ceasefire that the Biden administration has persistently demanded and which Moscow openly rejected. The U.S. at that time did not specify any particular sanctions in case Moscow refused to comply. After this statement, Trump had a one-hour conversation with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European leaders. According to sources, many European leaders still do not see Trump willing to exert pressure on the Kremlin to achieve peace, raising concerns about the prospects for diplomatic resolution of the conflict, which has been ongoing in Ukraine for over two years.