Member-only story
Rubio says Congress is ready to pass the Sanctions Bill
However, Does President Trump Care to Listen and Act?
On May 18th, aired an interview between Margaret Brennan and Secretary Rubio. Rubio had just spoken to his counterpart in Russia, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, as a debrief of Friday’s direct meeting between the Russians and Ukrainians. As an output of the debrief, Rubio said Russia was putting together their conditions for a ceasefire. Rubio also said that Ukraine, in turn, was drafting their conditions for a ceasefire, and the next steps were to compare how close they were to see if a peace agreement could still be found.
Ms. Brennan asked the Secretary if the Russians might be continuing the dialogue so they can stall for time. Rubio conceded that this is what they are testing with these discussions. If Russia’s draft of the requirements has realistic ideas, then progress is being made. Rubio also countered that if the requirements and ideas are the opposite, then they’ll have a different assessment.
Ms. Brennan then asked about Senator Graham’s vet-proof Sanctioning Russia Act of 2025, as Senator Graham was sitting next to Secretary Rubio during the meeting with Lavrov. She specifically asked how quickly the Secretary wanted the option to sanction Russia.
