The head of American diplomacy asked if he thought Russia wanted peace, said:
– Well, we can only follow what we see. They made it clear that they wanted the remainder of the Donetsk circuit, and of course the Ukrainians would not agree to it. So now we see that the Russians proceed to hit Ukraine long-range, of course, to weaken their power grid and effort to corrupt the country They... made any advancement in the Donetsk region. They lose 7,000 soldiers a week... so that is our assessment. They have made a request that Ukraine cannot accept.
Energy aid
Rubio besides reported that the Americans are talking to the Ukrainians about what kind of support they request in connection with the attacks on their energy infrastructure.
– And of course, helping them last the winter is crucial from a humanitarian point of view. The challenge is that the Ukrainian energy network is weakened all year (...)" stressed Rubio in an interview with journalists in Canada, where he attended a gathering with his G7 counterparts.
– I know there are method discussions on the circumstantial weapons they need. But in the end, if this equipment is destroyed a week after it was installed, it will be a problem. And this has been the case for 2 or 3 years," he added.
What about further sanctions?
When asked about sanctions against Russia, he replied:
– For our part, there are not many (in terms of) sanctions. We hit their major oil companies, as everyone asked. Of course (sanctions) must be implemented and it will take any time before they begin to be felt. But I don't know what else to do. There's a deficiency of sanctions. said the head of American diplomacy.
Mark Rubio revealed that “for a month” he had not spoken to the head of the Russian MFA Sergei Lavrow, but assured that their relations were “okay”.
Referring to his last conversation with Lavrow, he stated: “We would like this war to end, but we cannot simply proceed the meetings for the meetings themselves.” According to the media, after talking to the head of Russian diplomacy, Rubio advised Donald Trump to meet Vladimir Putin in Budapest. Sources of the “Wall Street Journal” reported that the head of diplomacy of the United States believes that gathering Trump with Putin in the close future would not bring peace in Ukraine.
Rubio was besides asked about Russian violations of east European borders.
– We don't support them. We don't like them. But we are powerfully committed to NATO and our partners if they are always attacked. We think... these provocations come from Russia. We think they are counterproductive and of course they origin a advanced level of tension that can lead to something bigger, which would be bad news for them and for everyone," Rubio replied.
Polon / PAP
