U.S.Department of State Weekly Digest Bulletin

 

Secretary of State Marco Rubio with Martha Raddatz of ABC This Week 08/17/2025 Secretary of State Marco Rubio with Martha Raddatz of ABC This Week 08/17/2025 11:52 AM EDT Marco Rubio, Secretary of State Washington, D.C. HomeOffice of the SpokespersonPress Releases…Secretary of State Marco Rubio with Martha Raddatz of ABC This Week hide Secretary of State Marco Rubio with Martha Raddatz of ABC This Week Interview August 17, 2025 QUESTION:  And I’m joined now by Secretary of State Marco Rubio.  Good morning, Mr. Secretary.  Thanks for joining us this morning.  President Trump has touted this summit as a huge success, but the President going into that said he wanted a ceasefire, he wanted the killing stopped, and there would be consequences.  Let’s take another listen to what he said just before that summit. QUESTION:  Will Russia face any consequences if Vladimir Putin does not agree to stop the war after your meeting on Friday? PRESIDENT TRUMP:  Yes, they will.  Yeah. QUESTION:  What will the consequences be? PRESIDENT TRUMP:  There will be consequences. QUESTION:  Sanctions?  Tariffs?  PRESIDENT TRUMP:  There will – I don’t have to say.  There will be very severe consequences. I won’t be happy if I walk away without some form of a ceasefire. QUESTION:  So, Mr. Secretary, the fighting hasn’t stopped, the killing hasn’t stopped, and there is no ceasefire.  What changed President Trump’s mind? SECRETARY RUBIO:  Well, I don’t think his mind has changed at all.  I think, ultimately, if this whole effort doesn’t work out, then there’s going to have to be additional consequences to Russia.  But we’re trying to avoid that by reaching a peace agreement, and that’s not going to be easy.  It’s going to take a lot of work.  I think there were things that were identified in those talks that we just had a couple days ago that made some progress in some directions.  Now, obviously, in order for us to get a peace agreement, Ukraine has to be a part of it.  They have to be included.  They have to be involved.  That’s why the President called them on the phone immediately after we got on the airplane, within an hour.  He talked to them for long periods of time.  That’s why President Zelenskyy will be traveling to Washington tomorrow, along with several European leaders as well, to continue to work on this. We made progress in the sense that we identified potential areas of agreement, but there remain some big areas of disagreement.  So we’re still a long ways off.  I mean, we’re not at the precipice of a peace agreement.  We’re not at the edge of one.  But I do think progress was made towards one, and – but again, I mean, this is going to — QUESTION:  But Secretary Rubio, we don’t know what any of that progress is, and the President went into that meeting — SECRETARY RUBIO:  Yeah, you’re not going to. QUESTION:  Okay.  The President went into that meeting saying he wanted a ceasefire, and there would be consequences if that – if they didn’t agree on a ceasefire in that meeting.  And they didn’t agree to a ceasefire.  So where are the consequences? SECRETARY RUBIO:  Well, I don’t – that’s not the aim of this.  I mean, look, first of all, you’re not going to reach a ceasefire or even a peace agreement — QUESTION:  The President said that was the aim. SECRETARY RUBIO:  Yeah, but you’re not going to reach a ceasefire or a peace agreement in a meeting in which only one side is represented.  That’s why it’s important to bring both leaders together, and that’s the goal here.  The President said what he’d like to see at some point is we make enough progress so both leaders, Zelenskyy and Putin, can meet somewhere and finalize this.  The only way to finalize a peace agreement is you have to have both sides agree to it and both sides of it involved.  How many times have we heard, from the Ukrainians and from others, there can – there is nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine?  Well, Ukraine wasn’t at the meeting.  But this was a very important meeting. Now, ultimately, if there isn’t a peace agreement, if there isn’t an end to this war, the President’s been clear:  There are going to be consequences.  But we’re trying to avoid that, and the way we’re trying to avoid those consequences is with an even better consequence, which is peace, the end of hostilities.  That’s the aim.  That’s the goal here.  And the President – he deserves a lot of credit.  This is not our – look, when he says this, it’s true.  The United States is not at war.  This is not our war.  Ultimately, what daily life in America looks like would not be materially altered one way or another about what happens in Ukraine.  We have dedicated time and energy to this because this President has made it a priority of his administration to promote peace and end or prevent wars.  He’s made that a priority. And I think he deserves a lot of credit for the amount of time and energy that we have invested in something like this, and he’s the only one in the world that could do it.  Okay?  None of these other leaders in Europe could get Putin to a meeting to talk seriously about any of this.  So this is going to be difficult.  It’s been going on for three and a half years.  You have two very entrenched sides.  And we’re going to have to continue to work and chip away at it.  I think we made some real progress.  You talked about not knowing what was discussed; these peace deals, these peace agreements and negotiations, they don’t work when they’re conducted in the media, either through leaks or through lies.  And usually they’re both the same thing, lying leaks.  Okay?  They don’t work if you do it that way.  And they don’t work — QUESTION:  Mr. Secretary — SECRETARY RUBIO:  — if you go out and say aggressive and abrasive things about one side or the other because then they just walk away. QUESTION:  Can you name any concessions that Vladimir Putin made during this meeting?  Has he – has – have any concessions — SECRETARY RUBIO:  I wouldn’t name them on your program. QUESTION:  Have any concessions been asked? SECRETARY RUBIO:  I wouldn’t name them on your program.  Why would I do that? QUESTION:  Where is the pressure? SECRETARY RUBIO:  Well, of course, because you can’t have a peace agreement – no, you can’t have a peace agreement unless both sides give and get.  You can’t have a peace agreement unless both sides make concessions.  That’s a fact.  That’s true in virtually any negotiation.  If not, it’s just called surrender, and neither side is going to surrender. So both sides are going to have to make concessions, so of course concessions were asked.  But what utility would there be of me going on a program and tell you, we wagged our finger at Putin and told him, you must do this and you must do that?  It’s going to make – it’s only going to make it harder and less likely that they’re going to agree to these things. So these negotiations – as much as everyone would love it to be a live pay-per-view event, these discussions only work best when they are conducted privately, in serious negotiations, in which people who have to go back and respond to constituencies – because even totalitarian governments have constituencies they have to respond to – people have to go back and defend these agreements that they make.  And so – and figure out a way to explain them to people. So we need to create space for concessions to be made, but of course concessions were asked. QUESTION:  Do you – does the President favor giving up territory that Ukraine now controls, specifically in the Donetsk region?  Sources are telling us that’s what was asked. SECRETARY RUBIO:  Well, okay.  Well, first of all, I mean, Putin has given repeated speeches for two and a half years – there’s one they always cite – which talks about taking most of Ukraine, and his view of history and how all – so forth and so on.  The second thing the President – so we know what their side is demanding, and we obviously know the Ukrainians are not in agreement with any of that.  The second point I would make is the President has said repeatedly, when it comes to territories and territorial claims, that’s ultimately something Ukraine will have to decide.  It’s their territory.  It’s their country.  Ultimately, what they’re willing to live with is what they’ll have to decide on.  Maybe the answer is they’re not willing to live with any of this; we don’t know, but that’s what we need to explore.  In the meantime, the one thing we do know that Ukraine has said repeatedly, and publicly talked about, is security guarantees.  They need to be able to enter into security guarantees that ensure that this is never going to happen again, that they’re not going to get reinvaded in two and a half or three years or four years or whenever it may be.  They don’t want to be back here again.  They want to be able to go on to rebuild their country and live their lives.  That’s a very reasonable request.  That’s something we’re working on, and that’s something the Russian side has to understand, obviously, is that as a sovereign country, Ukraine has a right – like every sovereign country – to enter into security alliances and agreements with other countries.  So these are one – some of the things that we’ll be discussing. QUESTION:  Critics of President Trump will say the pomp and circumstances – the pomp and circumstance, the red carpet, the warm handshake – that President Trump simply lost that, that Putin gained there just by being on the world stage and walking down a red carped with the President.  Your reaction to that? SECRETARY RUBIO:  Well, I mean, critics of President Trump are always going to find something to criticize.  I don’t pay attention to it anymore.  But I will tell you this:  Putin is already on the world stage.  He’s already on the world stage.  The guy’s conducting a full-scale war in Ukraine; he’s already on the world stage.  He has the world’s largest tactical nuclear arsenal in the world, and the second largest strategic nuclear arsenal in the world.  He’s already on the world stage.  When I hear people say that – oh, it elevates him – well, all we do is talk about Putin all the time.  All the media has done is talk about Putin all the time for the last four or five years.  That doesn’t mean he’s right about the war.  That doesn’t mean he’s justified about the war.  Put all that aside.  It means you’re not going to have a peace agreement without – between Russia and Ukraine, you’re not going to end a war between Russia and Ukraine, without dealing with Putin.  That’s not – that’s just common sense.  I shouldn’t even have to say it. So people can say whatever they want.  Ultimately, at the end of the day, we have to get the Russian side to agree to things that they don’t want to agree to if we’re going to have peace.  If not, there’ll just be a war, they’ll keep killing each other, and life will go on in America and in the rest of the world but not for Ukraine.  So the President has invested a lot of time in trying to bring an end to this war.  He deserves credit for doing that.  He gets criticism for doing that.  He could have just let this war go on.  The President could have just said, this is Biden’s war, it started under him, we’ll do what we can for Ukraine, but we’re going to focus on other things.  He could have easily said that. QUESTION:  But there – let – just a final point here. SECRETARY RUBIO:  But he’s the only leader in the world that can get Putin to a meeting to talk about serious things. QUESTION:  Just a final point here.  So at this point, even though he demanded sanctions – no sanctions, no ceasefire, and no deadlines? SECRETARY RUBIO:  Well, but ultimately – first of all, about deadlines, the deadline is as soon as possible.  We want this war to end as soon as possible.  I mean, that’s why we’re working on it.  In terms of sanctions, look, at the end of the day, if we can’t reach a peace agreement here and this war continues and so forth, then I anticipate you’ll see the President take further action.  He’s already made that clear.  The problem is this – let’s use our heads here.  The problem is this:  The minute you levy additional sanctions, strong additional sanctions, the talking stops.  Talking stops.  And at that point, the war just continues.  You’ve probably just added six, eight, nine, 12 more months to the war, if not longer.   More people dead, more people killed, more people maimed, more families destroyed, okay?  That’s what happens if you do that. Now, we may end up being at a point where we have to do that, where there is no other recourse and that’s the end.  By the way, there already are sanctions on Russia.  The President hasn’t lifted any sanctions on Russia.  They’re already facing sanctions – severe sanctions – and they’re facing them from the Europeans as well.  So we may very well reach a point where everyone concludes no peace is going to happen here, we’re going to have to do more sanctions; but when you do that you are basically walking away from any prospect of a negotiated settlement here, which is what everyone is asking us to do.  Everyone, including the Ukrainians and all the countries of Europe, are begging the United States to be engaged, engage Putin, and try to get him to agree to a peace agreement.  They’re all asking us to do that.  They all are.  And the minute you levy new sanctions, those talks probably stop for the foreseeable future, and that means the war continues for the foreseeable future.  I hope that doesn’t happen.  We may very well wind up there, but we’re going to try to do everything to prevent it because we want to reach a peace agreement. QUESTION:  Okay.  Thanks very much, Secretary Rubio.  We hope you – that happens. Tags Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs Media Engagement Office of the Spokesperson Russia Russia-Ukraine War The Secretary of State Ukraine Secretary of State Marco Rubio with Maria Bartiromo of Fox Business Sunday Morning Futures 08/17/2025 Secretary of State Marco Rubio with Maria Bartiromo of Fox Business Sunday Morning Futures 08/17/2025 12:15 PM EDT Marco Rubio, Secretary of State Washington, D.C. HomeOffice of the SpokespersonPress Releases…Secretary of State Marco Rubio with Maria Bartiromo of Fox Business Sunday Morning Futures hide Secretary of State Marco Rubio with Maria Bartiromo of Fox Business Sunday Morning Futures Interview August 17, 2025 QUESTION:  Joining me now is the U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who was also on the trip to Alaska with President Trump and who will be there tomorrow with President Trump and Zelenskyy at the White House.  Mr. Secretary, thanks so much for joining us this morning. SECRETARY RUBIO:  Thank you.  Thanks for having me. QUESTION:  Why did President Trump’s meeting with Putin end with no ceasefire, and what does Putin want? SECRETARY RUBIO:  Well, yeah.  Well, a couple things.  First of all, if you recall, there’s no way you can have a meeting like that – and we never said there was going to be a deal coming out of the meeting because the Ukrainians are not there.  This is a war between two countries.  It’s not America.  It’s Ukraine and Russia.  We met with the Russian side.  We’ve spoken repeatedly with the Ukrainian side.  We’ll see them again tomorrow in person along with our allies in Europe.  So I do think some progress was made in that talk. In terms of narrowing down the issue set, and now these are hard issues that remain – the conversation about where the territorial lines are going to be, questions about long-term security guarantees and who Ukraine can have military alliances with, things like that – these are difficult things.  But I do believe we made progress in narrowing down the issue set, but there’s a lot of work that remains.  There’s still – this is a – there’s a reason why this war has been going on for three and a half years.  It’s a war that never would have happened had President Trump been president, but he inherited it, and now he’s trying to do everything he can to bring about peace.  He’s made peace a priority of his administration, as you’ve seen with all the peace deals we’ve been able to achieve throughout the world.  This one’s the hardest one.  Everyone acknowledges that.  But he’s the only one in the world that has any chance of doing it.  Look, peace may not be possible at the end of the day.  We don’t know.  But if it is possible, he’s the only one that can get it done, and that’s why everyone’s asking him.  They’re asking him to meet with Putin, and they’re also asking him to come here tomorrow and meet with him to talk further about what we do next. QUESTION:  A European diplomat has confirmed to Fox that President Trump supports Putin’s proposal for Russia to take full control of Luhansk and Donetsk, all of Donbas.  Do you support this move? SECRETARY RUBIO:  No.  First of all, I don’t know who told you that, but they don’t know what they’re talking about.  I mean, the President has said that in terms of territories and stuff, these are things that Zelenskyy is going to have to decide on.  These are things that the Ukrainian side is going to have to agree to.  That’s – all the President is trying to do here is narrow down the open issues, narrow them down and then see if we can play some role in bringing that closer together so we can stop and end this war once and for all. Look, this war is only going to get worse.  It’s not going to get better.  You’ve seen that in the escalation in the attacks.  Russia’s economy is now 100 percent full-time war footing.  They are producing munitions.  The Ukrainians are as well.  Both sides are hitting each other very, very hard, and the war is only going to get worse.  It’s not going to get better.  So he’s trying to do everything he can to bring it to an end, but people that are out there talking what they don’t know with all these stupid leaks and things of that nature, they all want to just sound important.  They don’t know what they’re talking about.  The President has been very – the President’s been very clear.  He – in terms of, like, what Zelenskyy is going to agree to, that’s up to them to decide.  They’re going to have to decide what they’re willing to give and ultimately what they’re going to get, what they’re going to demand as well. Both sides are going to – but here’s what I can tell you for certain.  You can’t have a peace deal between two warring factions unless both sides agree to give up something and both sides agree that the other side gets something, right?  Otherwise, if one side gets everything they want, that’s not a peace deal.  It’s called surrender.  And I don’t think this is a war that’s going to end anytime soon on the basis of surrender. So this is tough stuff.  I mean, it’s difficult to bring these two sides together.  We’ve made some progress, we believe, and now we’ll have to follow up on that progress.  And ultimately, where this should lead is to a meeting between the three leaders, between Zelenskyy, Putin, and President Trump, where we could finalize it.  But we’ve got to get this thing closer before we get to that point. QUESTION:  What does Europe want, Secretary? SECRETARY RUBIO:  Well, look, I think the role that Europe can play ultimately in the long term is on security guarantees that Ukraine has been talking about.  They should play a key element in that regard.  And I also think the Europeans are very helpful being in the room sometimes and sort of giving ideas about what accommodations can be made and what flexibility the Ukrainian side could have. So that’s the role that they’ve played up to this point.  The President invited them to come here.  He told President Zelenskyy to come on Monday and bring European leaders that he chose to bring with him, so there’s a handful of heads of state that will be here as well tomorrow at the invitation of the President to see if we can make some progress on some of these points. The President spoke to many of these leaders on the airplane – I think it was 2 o’clock in the morning our time, it was probably 8 o’clock or 9 o’clock in the morning their time – on our way back from Alaska.  And there it was – and then yesterday I had a call with all the national security advisors of the different countries. So we’ve got a work agenda ahead of us over the next few days, and we’ve been talking about these things now for a while as well, so – because we also talked to them before.  We had multiple meetings and conversations with them leading up to the events in Alaska.  So they can play a very constructive role here, but ultimately, only President Trump – if a peace deal is possible, he’s the only one that can bring it about. QUESTION:  Is Europe still buying Russian oil? SECRETARY RUBIO:  Well, if you look at the oil that’s going to China and being refined, a lot of that is then being sold back into Europe.  Europe’s also buying natural gas still.  Now, there are countries trying to get – to wean themselves off of it, but there’s more Europe can do with regards to their own sanctions.  If they’re – they always talk about sanctions, and they’ve got a sanctions package coming out as well, but – an additional sanctions package supposedly coming out soon.  So – but for us, I think the most important role that Europe can play here is to have a constructive role in building up those security guarantees that will allow Ukraine the potential flexibility to make a deal on the rest of the issues that are at stake.  QUESTION:  Well, I mean, wouldn’t that be a major lever to pull, to put sanctions on Europe or punish Europe for continuing to buy oil and gas from Russia?  Is that something on the table? SECRETARY RUBIO:  Well, I don’t know about on Europe directly, obviously, but certainly there are implications to secondary sanctions.  If you put secondary sanctions on a country – let’s say you were to go after the oil sales of Russian oil to China.  Well, China just refines that oil.  That oil is then sold into the global marketplace, and anyone who’s buying that oil would be paying more for it or, if it doesn’t exist, would have to find an alternative source for it.  So we have heard, when you talk about the Senate bill that was being proposed where there was a hundred percent tariffs on China and India, we did hear from a number of European countries – not in press releases but we heard from them – some concern about what that could mean.  But look, I don’t want to get into a tit-for-tat with the Europeans on this.  I think they can play a very constructive role here in helping us get to that point.  But – and the President has kept them in the loop.  The first call the President made as soon as the meeting with Putin was over was to Secretary General of NATO Mark Rutte, who will be there tomorrow as well.  We’ve been in touch with them over and over again with regards to this process.  So I think the President’s done an incredible job here of trying to bring the sides together.  There’s a lot of work that still remains.  You don’t have a deal, as the President says, until you have a deal.  This is not an easy deal.  This is not a war that began under President Trump.  It’s not – as you saw acknowledged at the press conference there in Alaska, it’s actually a war that would not have happened had President Trump been in the White House.  He inherits a three-year-old war, and now he’s trying to untangle it, and – because if this falls apart, this thing is going to get far worse and go on much longer.  You have thousands and thousands of more people are going to die and be injured as a result of this. QUESTION:  Can you give us any clarity on a timeline in terms of the U.S.’s thinking?  I mean, obviously there’s no ceasefire in place right now.  What are the repercussions?  Are we just going to watch the murders continue? SECRETARY RUBIO:  No, look, at some point, a decision has to be made if a peace deal is possible or not.  If at some point it becomes clear that both sides are so far apart and so dug in that we’re just not near a peace deal, then the President will have a decision to make about how much more time do we invest in it and what actions does he take then.  But I want everyone to understand if tomorrow – if this morning the President woke up and said I’m putting these terrible, strong sanctions on Russia, that’s fine.  It may make people feel good for a couple hours, but here’s what you’re basically saying.  You’re saying talks are over; for the foreseeable future, for the next year or year and a half, there’s no more talks.  Because there’s no one else in the world that can talk to him, okay?  Putin is not going to meet with Macron.  He’s not going to meet with the UK, with all due respect to these leaders.  None of these leaders are going to be able to bring him to the table and talk to them.  There’s only one leader in the world that has any chance of bringing these two sides together.  If there is a chance, there’s only one leader in the world that can do it, and that’s President Trump.  And you forfeit that role the minute you put additional sanctions on him.  We may get to that point, unfortunately, but if we do, it means that peace talks are no longer possible, and that would be very unfortunate, because the real-world ramifications are that while we’re here calling each other names and doing TV interviews about this stuff and all of that in American politics, there are people who today will be injured and killed in the battlefield and in cities in Ukraine, on the front lines, and even in Russia.  Even as we speak, people that have nothing to do with this war are suffering as a result of it. And I think we are very fortunate and blessed and should be thankful to have a President that has made peace and the achievement of peace a priority of his administration.  We’ve seen it in Cambodia and Thailand.  We’ve seen it in India-Pakistan.  We’ve seen it in Rwanda and the DRC.  And we’re going to continue to pursue any opportunities we can find to bring about peace in the world.  QUESTION:  Understood.  What are you expecting to present to Zelenskyy tomorrow? SECRETARY RUBIO:  Well, I think tomorrow’s conversations, a lot of it will be centered around what are the kinds of security guarantees that Ukraine is looking for, because what Ukraine is looking for here is how do – okay, the war ends.  How do we make sure this doesn’t happen again?  How do we make sure that, in two or three years, the Russians don’t come back at us?  So they want guarantees built up so that they can protect themselves or prevent such a war from occurring in the future. So the details of what that would look like is something that hopefully we’ll spend a lot of time discussing tomorrow.  We had a long conversation about it yesterday with the national security advisers of multiple European countries.  Some work has already gone into it, but now we’re at a stage where we need to build some details on it, and then ultimately, obviously present that to the Russian side, who – and get them to accept it.  But first we have to have our ducks in order. QUESTION:  Well, what kind of security guarantees is the U.S. willing to make? SECRETARY RUBIO:  Well, that’ll be part of the conversation tomorrow.  At the end of the day, the truth of the matter is that any security guarantee that – the Europeans, there’s a lot they can do and a lot they can offer, and it would be a huge concession.  It would be a very big move by the President if he were to offer a U.S. commitment to a security guarantee.  That will be his decision to make.  And I want people to understand that.  That’s – that tells you how bad – if he does it, it tells you how badly he wants peace, how much he values peace, that he would be willing to make a concession like that.  But ultimately, that will be a decision for the President to make.  That’s what we’ll talk about tomorrow.  I’m sure we’ll spend six, seven hours talking about these things, maybe more, and sort of get to a point where we have something more concrete.  We’ve done a lot of work on it already, but a little – some more work is required before we can say that we have a plan on security guarantees that unifies us. QUESTION:  Well, what other economic levers does the U.S. have to use here?  I mean, you’ve got the secondary sanctions and you said perhaps there is something to be done with China.  What about designating Russia as a State Sponsor of Terrorism, which is something Lindsey Graham has been working on? SECRETARY RUBIO:  Well, those designations can be useful from time to time, but in this particular case, it’s not going to change the course of the war.  Look, can the U.S. inflict greater pain on the Russian economy going after the banking sector, the oil companies, and things of this nature?  Of course we could.  Of course we can.  And that always remains, unfortunately, an option.  But just understand:  If we get to the point where we’re doing that, okay, it may make people feel good, and it may have an implication on Russia in the long term, but in the short term, what it means is that talks are over, that at this point we are basically now stuck with another year and a half or two of war, of death, of destruction.  That’s what it means. We may get to that point, sadly and unfortunately, because peace is not possible.  But that – we’re trying to avoid getting to that point.  We want to give every opportunity possible for the Russians to say yes to something that Ukraine can live with, and that’s what we’re trying to do.  And I think the President deserves a lot of credit for wanting to do that.  No one else has tried to do that.  Joe Biden couldn’t have done it.  No other leader in the world could do it.  Frankly, he doesn’t have to do it.   Look, the war in Ukraine gets a lot of attention, and I’m not saying it’s an irrelevant thing.  It’s a very tragic thing that’s going on.  But life in America on a daily basis will be largely unaffected, whether there’s peace in Ukraine or not.  That’s just a fact.  We have a lot of issues we’re focused on, not just at home but around the world.  But the fact that the President has dedicated this much time to a war between two countries on another continent tells you how much he values peace.  And we should be very thankful and grateful that we have a President who’s a President of peace, who values peace and wants to use the power of his office to achieve the end of wars and the prevention of new ones. QUESTION:  But isn’t the U.S. directly impacted because of that rare earth minerals deal?  How important is that deal, and has Putin already affected that deal by bombing the region? SECRETARY RUBIO:  Well, first of all, that deal is important but, I mean, it’s not – the United States has other sources of rare earth minerals.  I think that deal’s very important for Ukraine in terms of their own reconstruction and rebuilding, and to have American partners in a postwar Ukraine is of great benefit to Ukraine.  And obviously, it would be great for us too.  But I don’t think that alone justifies us being behind a war effort here.  What we want to be able to do here is be behind a peace effort.  We want to achieve the end of a war. So I’m not saying our interests in Ukraine are zero.  What I am saying is the amount of time and energy that this administration has placed on this war is something that people should compare to some of the other issues we have around the world that deserve our attention as well.  And the President just deserves a lot of credit for putting so much time and energy behind something that is very, very difficult to end.  It’s a very difficult war to end.  The Russians feel very strongly that they have the upper hand, that they’re making progress.  They don’t necessarily feel pressure.  And the Ukrainians feel very strongly that they were invaded, that they’ve been aggrieved, and that what the Russians have done is horrifying and should be stopped.  So both sides are pretty dug in.  And we don’t have sanctions on Ukraine; we have sanctions on Russia.  We don’t provide weapons to Russia; we provide weapons and assistance to Ukraine.  So the U.S. has done a lot already with regards to this. But this President is trying to figure out how to end it, how to stop it.  And I think that’s incredible, that we have a President willing to use the power of the United States and the power – that’s the goal here.  It’s not to win the war, it’s to end it. QUESTION:  So will you continue to put pressure on Russia in all ways in order to stop this?  What is the next pressure point? SECRETARY RUBIO:  Well, in order to have a peace deal, both sides are going to have to make concessions.  And so obviously, the Russian side is going to have to make concessions.  One side cannot get everything they want.  If one – if in a negotiation one side gets everything they want, that’s not a peace deal; that’s a surrender.  That’s the terms of surrender.  And I don’t think you’re going to see surrender by either side anytime soon. So the reality of it is, in order to make a peace deal, Ukraine is going to have to accept things it doesn’t like and Russia is going to have to accept things it doesn’t like.  QUESTION:  Okay.  SECRETARY RUBIO:  And we need to be able to use the influence of the presidency to push both sides to make those concessions.  QUESTION:  Did Putin bring up a potential nuclear deal with the United States as part of this? SECRETARY RUBIO:  No.  No, the talks were almost exclusively – and I would say 99 percent were just about the war and about how to bring it to an end, and the Russian perspective.  And don’t – people should not underestimate the value of meeting in person.  They’ve had multiple phone conversations, but meeting in person really allows you to get a better gauge of how strongly one side feels about certain issues.  We’ve met with the Ukrainians dozens of times.  It’s our first meeting with the Russian side in terms of at the level of President Putin.  And obviously the – hopefully, the next time we meet, it’ll be because Zelenskyy is in the room and they’re getting close to finalizing a peace deal. QUESTION:  Mr. Secretary, we wish you success tomorrow.  Thanks very much for being here. SECRETARY RUBIO:  Thank you. QUESTION:  Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Tags Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs Media Engagement Office of the Spokesperson Russia Russia-Ukraine War The Secretary of State Ukraine Secretary of State Marco Rubio with Margaret Brennan of CBS Face the Nation 08/17/2025 Secretary of State Marco Rubio with Margaret Brennan of CBS Face the Nation 08/17/2025 01:04 PM EDT Marco Rubio, Secretary of State Washington, D.C. HomeOffice of the SpokespersonPress Releases…Secretary of State Marco Rubio with Margaret Brennan of CBS Face the Nation hide Secretary of State Marco Rubio with Margaret Brennan of CBS Face the Nation Interview August 17, 2025 QUESTION:  Good morning, and welcome to Face the Nation.  Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other European leaders are heading to Washington Monday to meet with President Trump to discuss next steps following Mr. Trump’s meeting with Vladimir Putin.  The awkward conclusion to Friday’s summit yielded no formal agreement, with Vladimir Putin still insisting that Ukraine turn over the lands seized by Russia in the war plus additional territory, something that President Zelenskyy continues to refuse. We begin with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who attended those talks in Anchorage.  Good morning to you, Mr. Secretary. SECRETARY RUBIO:  Good morning.  Thank you. QUESTION:  Vladimir Putin did not give President Trump the ceasefire he sought, and now Putin says the root causes of the conflict have to be resolved in a peace agreement.  Isn’t the root cause the fact that Russia invaded in the first place? SECRETARY RUBIO:  Well, ultimately, yeah.  But, I mean, what he means by “root causes” is long historical complaints that we’ve heard repeatedly.  This is not a new argument.  He’s been making this for a long time, and it’s the argument that it’s Western encroachment.  I don’t want to get into it; it’s just so long. QUESTION:  Yeah. SECRETARY RUBIO:  But the bottom line is that all of – we’re not going to focus on all of that stuff.  We’re going to focus on this:  Are they going to stop fighting or not, and what it’s going to take to stop the fighting.  And what it’s going to take to stop the fighting, if we’re being honest and serious here, is both sides are going to have to give and both sides should expect to get something from this.  And that’s a very difficult thing to do.  It’s very difficult because Ukraine obviously feels harmed, and rightfully so, because they were invaded; and the Russian side because they feel like they’ve got momentum in the battlefield and, frankly, don’t care – don’t seem to care very much about how many Russian soldiers die in this endeavor.  They just churn through it. So I think what the President deserves a lot of credit for is the amount of time and energy that his administration is placing on reaching a peace agreement for a war that’s not a war that started under him.  It’s half – it’s on the other side of the world.  That said, I mean, it’s relevant to us, but there are a lot of other issues he could be focused on. QUESTION:  Right. SECRETARY RUBIO:  So tomorrow we’ll be meeting with President Zelenskyy.  We’ll be meeting with European leaders.  We just met with Putin.  He’s dedicated a lot of time and energy because he has made it a priority of his administration to stop or end war – stop wars or prevent them.  And right now, this is the biggest war going on in the world.  It’s the biggest war in Europe since World War II.  We’re going to continue to do everything we can to reach an agreement that ends the dying and the killing and the suffering that’s going on right now. QUESTION:  Well, you know this well, how long these kind of diplomatic negotiations often take.  President Trump was telling European leaders what was discussed was Putin demanding control of Donetsk, a region in the east that his forces do not fully hold, and the UK estimates that taking that full area could be as long as another four years.  Putin also is demanding Russian be an official language in Ukraine and something regarding Russian Orthodox churches. Did the U.S. accept all of what Putin laid out at that table? SECRETARY RUBIO:  The United States is not in a position to accept anything or reject anything because ultimately, it’s up to the Ukrainians.  They’re the ones that Russia has to make peace with, and Ukraine with Russia. QUESTION:  Well, the President said he did come to some agreements. SECRETARY RUBIO:  It’s up to the Ukrainians to make these conditions.  Well, the agreements were that we were going to try to do things like, for example, get a leader – a leaders meeting.  We have to make enough progress so that we can sit down, President Zelenskyy and President Putin in the same place – which is what President Zelenskyy has been asking for – and reach a final agreement that ends this war. Now, there were some concepts and ideas discussed that we know the Ukrainians could be very supportive of in that meeting.  I don’t think it’s – we’re not going to negotiate this in the media.  I understand that everybody wants to know what happened, but ultimately there are things that were discussed as part of this meeting that are potentials for breakthroughs, that are potentials for progress.  We’ll be discussing that more in depth tomorrow with our European allies, with the Ukrainians that are coming over.  We’ll be discussing all of these things because ultimately, we do need to find areas where we’re making progress and try to begin to narrow the gap between the two sides. But there’s a reason why this war has been going on for three and a half years, and that is when it comes to the big issues here, there are still some big differences between both sides.  Let’s see how much progress we can continue to make.  It’s a – it’s not been easy, but it’s something the President has made a priority: peace.  QUESTION:  Yeah. SECRETARY RUBIO:  And he deserves a lot of credit for that. QUESTION:  But ultimately, if Vladimir Putin is going to be offered land that he has not seized yet but negotiates his way into, doesn’t this set a dangerous precedent that the United States now accepts this concept that it is okay to seize land by force? SECRETARY RUBIO:  Well, Putin’s already seized land by force, and that in and of itself is not a positive precedent.  This whole war is a negative precedent. QUESTION:  Are you demanding withdrawal? SECRETARY RUBIO:  Well, again, here’s the – in order to have a deal here, to end – reach the end of this conflict, both sides are going to have to make concessions.  That’s just a fact. QUESTION:  But does that mean accepting where Russian forces are? SECRETARY RUBIO:  In any negotiation, if – no, no, but if – but this is not about acceptance.  This is about what Ukraine can accept and what Russia can accept.  They both have to accept it.  Otherwise there won’t be a peace deal, okay?  If there aren’t concessions, if one side gets everything they want, that’s called surrender.  That’s called the end of the war through surrender, and that’s not what we’re close to doing because neither side here is on the verge of surrender or anything close to it. So in order for there to be a peace deal – this is just a fact.  We may not like it.  It may not be pleasant.  It may be distasteful.  But in order for there to be an end to the war, there are things Russia wants that it cannot get and there are things Ukraine wants that it’s not going to get.  Both sides are going to have to give up something in order to get to the table, in order to make this happen.  That’s just the way it is.  And I mean, the sooner we accept that, that’s the reality. Now, what those things are is going to be up to both sides.  There’s no conditions that can be imposed on Ukraine.  They’re going to have to accept things, but they’re going to have to get things too.  And so, for example, Ukraine is a sovereign country.  They have a right, like every sovereign country does in the world, to have – to enter into security alliances with other countries to prevent an invasion in the future, to prevent threats to their national security.  That’s not an unreasonable request.  That’s something that needs to be worked on.  Territories will have to be discussed.  It’s just a fact.  And there are things that maybe Russia is holding now that they’re going to have to give up.  Who knows?  The point is we need to create a scenario where that becomes possible, and that’s why this has been so hard, because neither side up to now has been willing to give on some of these things.  But we’ll see if that’s possible. QUESTION:  Yeah. SECRETARY RUBIO:  It may not be, but we’re going to try and we’re going to do everything we can to try to achieve a peace. QUESTION:  Well, I understand you can’t get into specifics in a public conversation, but we’re looking at Russian troops and strikes intensifying.  Did you hear anything from Vladimir Putin that indicated he is willing to make a single concession? SECRETARY RUBIO:  Well, I think there are a couple – I mean, not enough for Ukraine.  If not, we would be announcing a peace deal this morning, right?  But certainly there are some things.  We notice changes.  There are some changes that I think are possible.  I think there are some concepts that were discussed that could potentially lead to something.  But again, all of these things have to be verifiable.  We have – it isn’t real until it’s real.  I mean, one thing is what you say you might be willing to consider; another thing is your willingness to do it, and it always becomes a tradeoff in all of this. But you talk about the intensifying strikes on the Russian side.  Yeah, I mean, they’re a full-time war machine.  I mean, that’s what’s happening.  The Russian economy has basically been turned into a full-time wartime economy.  They have a lot of people.  It’s a big country.  It’s not just large geographically.  It has huge populations.  It continues to churn through people.  They lost – 20,000 Russian soldiers were killed last month, in July, in this war.  That just tells you the price they’re willing to pay. I’m not saying any of this is admirable.  I’m saying that this is the reality of the war that we’re facing.  It’s become attrition in some ways.  It’s a meat grinder, and they just have more meat to grind. QUESTION:  Well, let me ask you about the security bit you just mentioned there, because Italy’s prime minister says that President Trump revived the idea of security guarantees inspired by NATO’s Article 5 and a collective security clause that would involve the United States.  How does that work?  SECRETARY RUBIO:  Yeah, I mean — QUESTION:  Are these U.S. troops and U.S. monitors? SECRETARY RUBIO:  So that’s what we’re going to be working on.  Well, that’s what we’re going to be working on.  That’s why – that’s one of the reasons why – I talked yesterday to all the national security advisors, a bunch of them from the different European countries; there are European leaders coming here tomorrow, heads of state coming tomorrow along with President Zelenskyy, to discuss this in more detail.  I mean, the constructs of something like this needs to be built out.  One – a concept is one thing; the reality – how it’s built and how it would work is another. But those are the kinds of talks that we’re going to be having with them, along with some of the other issues that are at play.  But that is one of – if you were to break this thing down, I mean, there are – obviously there needs to be an agreement on territories and where the lines are going to be drawn.  That’s not going to be very easy.  That’s going to be tough.  I think there has to be some discussion about security guarantees for Ukraine because they don’t want this war to – none of us want to see this war in the future.  They’re a sovereign country.  They have a right to have security agreements with other countries and security alliances with other countries. And then there’s the whole issue of reconstruction — QUESTION:  Including the United States? SECRETARY RUBIO:  — and how do you rebuild the country. Well, potentially.  Like I said, that’s what we’re going to be having a conversation about, and that’s what we’re going to be meeting – that’s why they’re all coming here tomorrow, and that’s why we’ve been talking on the phone for the last 48 hours with them and even leading up to it.  Throughout the week there were various meetings just to sort of build out some of these ideas. So all of these right now are ideas or concepts that require some more specificity.  We’ll need to work with our partners to see what that looks like, and I think that’s an area where potential progress is real.  But that alone won’t be enough.  There’s a bunch of other things that have to be worked through here. QUESTION:  Yeah.  Well, Russia claims it has rescued 700,000 children.  I know you know that the warrant out for Vladimir Putin’s arrest is for the state-sponsored abduction of kids.  I’ve seen estimates there are something like 30,000 Ukrainian children who have been abducted.  Is the United States demanding, or at least even just as a statement of goodwill here, that Russia return these children? SECRETARY RUBIO:  Yeah, I mean, we’ve repeatedly raised that issue on – in every forum possible.  And those have also been, by the way, topics of discussion not just in our meetings with the Ukrainians but in the negotiations and talks that were going on between Ukraine and Russia at the technical level.  These talks were going on in Türkiye, as an example – Türkiye over the last few months. QUESTION:  Yeah, nothing so far from the Russians. SECRETARY RUBIO:  That’s been a topic of discussion as well.  Well, it’s unfortunate.  Children should be returned to their families.  We – on that position I don’t think there’s any ambiguity on our side, and they shouldn’t even be a bargaining chip in regards to a broader negotiation.  But it’s just one more element of how tragic this war is.  After three and a half years, this war is getting worse.  It’s not getting better.  You’ve made the point about the uptick in strikes.  This is a war.  It’s going to get worse.  It’s not going to get better.  And that’s why the President is investing so much time in bringing this to an end.  And by the way, everyone is begging us to be involved in this.  QUESTION:  Yeah.  SECRETARY RUBIO:  The Europeans want us involved.  The Ukrainians want us involved.  Obviously the Russians want us involved.  Because the President is the only leader in the world – if this is possible, he’s the only one that can help make it happen.  QUESTION:  Well, he’s got the leverage over Vladimir Putin if he wanted to crush his economy or at least do more damage to it, but you have held off on those secondary sanctions.  President Trump told Fox News his advice to President Zelenskyy is make a deal:  Russia is a very big power, and they’re not.  You know there is concern from the Europeans that President Zelenskyy is going to be bullied into signing something away.  That’s why you have these European leaders coming as backup tomorrow.  Can you reassure them?  SECRETARY RUBIO:  No, it isn’t.  That’s not why they’re coming as – that’s not true.  No, but that’s not – why – that’s not true.  They’re not coming here tomorrow to keep Zelenskyy from being bullied.  They’re not coming – in fact, they’re coming here tomorrow because — QUESTION:  In that February Oval Office meeting in front of television cameras, where President Zelenskyy was dressed down — SECRETARY RUBIO:  Do you know how many meetings we’ve had since then?  QUESTION:  Oh, no, I know, and I was just up in Alaska watching the one with Vladimir Putin — SECRETARY RUBIO:  Yeah, but we’ve had a bunch of meetings since then.  QUESTION:  — where a red carpet was rolled out for the Russian leader.  SECRETARY RUBIO:  No, but with Zelenskyy.  We’ve had more meetings — QUESTION:  It was very different.  SECRETARY RUBIO:  We’ve had – we’ve had one meeting with Putin and, like, a dozen meetings with Zelenskyy.  So – but that’s not true.  They’re not coming here tomorrow to keep Zelenskyy from being bullied.  They’re coming here tomorrow because we’ve been working with the Europeans – we talked to them last week; there were meeting in the UK over the previous weekend.  The President’s talked to these leaders — QUESTION:  And they said President Trump was going to demand a ceasefire.  SECRETARY RUBIO:  — as early as Thursday.  No, no, but you said that they’re coming here tomorrow to keep Zelenskyy from being bullied.  They’re not coming here tomorrow – oh, this is such a stupid media narrative that they’re coming here tomorrow because Trump is going to bully Zelenskyy into a bad deal.  We’ve been working with these people for weeks – for weeks – on this stuff.  They’re coming here tomorrow because they chose to come here tomorrow.  We invited them to come.  We invited them to come.  The President invited them to come.  QUESTION:  But the President told those European leaders last week that he wanted a ceasefire.  The President went on television, said he would walk out of the meeting if Vladimir Putin didn’t agree with one.  He said there would be severe consequences if he didn’t agree to one.  He said he’d walk out in two minutes.  He spent three hours talking to Vladimir Putin, and he did not get one.  So there’s some mixed messages.  SECRETARY RUBIO:  Because obviously something – things happened during that meeting – well, because obviously things – look, our goal here is not to stage some production for the world to say, oh, how dramatic, he walked out.  Our goal here is to have a peace agreement to end this war, okay?  And obviously we felt – and I agreed – that there was enough progress – not a lot of progress but enough progress made in those talks to allow us to move to the next phase.  If not, we wouldn’t be having Zelenskyy flying all the way over here.  We wouldn’t be having all the Europeans coming all the way over here.  Now, understand and take with a grain of salt – I’m not saying we’re on the verge of a peace deal, but I am saying that we saw movement, enough movement to justify a follow-up meeting with Zelenskyy and the Europeans, enough movement for us to dedicate even more time to this.  You talk about the sanctions.  Look, at the end of the day, if peace is not going to be possible here and this is just going to continue on as a war, people will continue to die by the thousands.  The President has that option to then come in and impose new sanctions. But if he did this now, the moment the President puts those additional sanctions, that’s the end of the talks.  You’ve basically locked in at least another year to year and a half of war and death and destruction.  We may unfortunately wind up there, but we don’t want to wind up there.  We want to wind up with a peace deal that ends this war so Ukraine can go on with the rest of their lives and rebuild their country and be assured that this is never going to happen again.  That’s the goal here.  We’re going to do everything possible to make that happen if it’s doable.  It will require both sides to make concessions.  It will require both sides to get things they’re asking for.  That’s how these deals are made, whether we like it or not. QUESTION:  Before I let you go, quickly, why did the State Department just announce that they’re halting visitor visas for all Gazans coming here for medical aid?  Why would some of these kids, for example, who are coming to hospitals for treatment, be a threat? SECRETARY RUBIO:  Well, first of all, it’s not just kids.  It’s a bunch of adults that are accompanying them.  Second, we had outreach from multiple congressional offices asking questions about it, and so we’re going to re-evaluate how those visas are being granted, not just to the children but how those visas are being granted to the people who are accompanying them, and by the way, to some of the organizations that are facilitating it.  There is evidence that’s been presented to us by numerous congressional offices that some of the organizations bragging about and involved in acquiring these visas have strong links to terrorist groups like Hamas, and so we are not going to be in partnership with groups that are friendly with Hamas.  So we need to – we’re going to pause those visas.  There was just a small number of them issued to children, but they come with adults accompanying them, obviously.  And we are going to pause this program and re-evaluate how those visas are being vetted and what relationship, if any, has there been by these organizations to the process of acquiring those visas.  We’re not going to be in partnership with groups that have links or sympathies towards Hamas.  QUESTION:  Secretary of State Marco Rubio, we have to leave it there for this morning.  Thank you for joining us. SECRETARY RUBIO:  Thank you. Tags Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs Media Engagement Office of the Spokesperson Palestinian Territories Russia Russia-Ukraine War The Secretary of State Ukraine Secretary of State Marco Rubio with Kristen Welker of NBC Meet the Press 08/17/2025 Secretary of State Marco Rubio with Kristen Welker of NBC Meet the Press 08/17/2025 01:45 PM EDT Marco Rubio, Secretary of State Washington, D.C. HomeOffice of the SpokespersonPress Releases…Secretary of State Marco Rubio with Kristen Welker of NBC Meet the Press hide Secretary of State Marco Rubio with Kristen Welker of NBC Meet the Press Interview August 17, 2025 QUESTION:  And joining me now is Secretary of State and National Security Advisor Marco Rubio.  Secretary Rubio, welcome back to Meet the Press. SECRETARY RUBIO:  Thank you. QUESTION:  Thank you for being here.  So heading into the meeting with President Putin on Friday, President Trump said he wanted a ceasefire agreement.  Now he is saying he wants a broader peace deal.  We know that Ukraine – we know that European allies – want a ceasefire first.  Is a ceasefire now off the table, Mr. Secretary? SECRETARY RUBIO:  No, it’s not off the table.  I think what the President said – in fact, you just read it on the air a few moments ago – is it was agreed to by all that the best way to end this conflict is through a full peace deal.  There’s no doubt about that.  I mean, who would be against the fact if tomorrow we came to you and said, we have a full peace deal and it’s done; I think that’s the best way to end the war.  Now, whether there needs to be a ceasefire on the way there, well, we’ve advocated for that.  Unfortunately, the Russians as of now have not agreed to that. But the ideal here, what we’re aiming for here, is not a ceasefire.  What we ultimately are aiming for is an end to this war. QUESTION:  Well, I want to drill down on that exactly and what happened because, as you just heard, before the meeting with President Putin, President Trump warned there would be, quote, “very severe consequences” for Russia if it didn’t stop the war.  Here’s a little bit more of what he said on the plane ride over.  Take a look. PRESIDENT TRUMP:  I want to see a ceasefire rapidly.  I don’t know if it’s going to be today, but I’m not going to be happy if it’s not today. QUESTION:  So what exactly changed?  Is it that Putin would not agree to a ceasefire? SECRETARY RUBIO:  Well, first of all, the Russians are already facing very severe consequences.  There’s not a single sanction that’s been lifted.  Not one.  I mean, they are facing all the same sanctions that have been in place today.  All the American support continues for Ukraine.  And ultimately, look, if we’re not going to be able to reach an agreement here at any point, then there are going to be consequences – not only the consequences of the war continuing but the consequences of all those sanctions continuing, and potentially new sanctions on top of it as well. But what we’re trying to do right now is end a war, and in order to end a war, you’ve got to give every opportunity that exists.  You have to be open to any opportunity that exists to bring it about.  And here’s the thing to remind everybody.  And when the President says is this is not our war, but let’s be frank:  This is not our war.  The United States is not in a war.  Ukraine is in a war, and we’ve been supporting Ukraine.  We happen to be in the role of the only country in the world with the only leader in the world that can actually bring Putin to a table to even discuss these things. Now, the President has traveled all the way to Alaska, all the way back, has dedicated months and months of work – him, our entire team – on this matter because we want to see an end to the war.  But if tomorrow the war continues, life in America will not be fundamentally altered.  So I think that what we have to understand is that this has been a priority for this President because he wants to promote peace.  He wants to promote the end of a war.  And I think we should be happy that we have a President that’s trying to promote peace and bring a war to an end. QUESTION:  Mr. Secretary, let’s look at the state of the war.  It’s really captured in this chart.  I want to put it up on the screen for our viewers.  It shows that Russian attacks on Ukraine have nearly doubled since President Trump came into office.  And in fact, in July, Russia launched more than 6,000 missiles and drones.  That’s the highest amount of attacks since the war began.  What do you say to Ukrainians who worry that without a ceasefire in place, you are giving Putin more leverage at the negotiating table and a green light to drop more bombs? SECRETARY RUBIO:  Well, the problem with that is that we – I – we’ve been asking for a ceasefire for a long period of time.  We think – usually it’s very hard to negotiate when you’re in the middle of hostilities.  But that said, the only way to have a ceasefire is for both sides to agree to stop firing at one another.  Beyond that – and the Russians just haven’t agreed to that.  Beyond that, I would say that one of the complications about ceasefires is they have to be maintained, which is very difficult.  I mean, every single day we keep an eye on what’s happening between Pakistan and India, what’s happening between Cambodia and Thailand.  Ceasefires can fall apart very quickly, especially after a three-and-a-half-year war like what we’re facing now. But I don’t think anyone disagrees that the ideal here, what we’re aiming for, is not some permanent ceasefire.  What we’re aiming for here is a peace deal so there’s not a war now and there’s not a war in the future. QUESTION:  But why not impose more sanctions on them and force them to agree to a ceasefire instead of accepting that Putin won’t agree to one? SECRETARY RUBIO:  Well, first, I think that’s a – that’s something that a lot of people go around saying that I don’t necessarily think is true.  I don’t think new sanctions on Russia are going to force them to accept a ceasefire.  They’re already under very severe sanctions.  I think that should be a – you could argue that that could be a consequence of refusing to agree to a ceasefire or the end of hostilities, but there is no evidence that more sanctions – because sanctions take months, and sometimes years, to bite.  And we may very well wind up in that place.  I hope not because that means that peace talks failed.  But we have to give every opportunity for peace a chance — QUESTION:  So — SECRETARY RUBIO:  — in this particular case, and that’s what we’re trying to do here.  And so those options remain to the President.  The minute he takes those steps, all talks stop.  The minute we take those steps, there is no one left in the world to go talk to the Russians and try to get them to the table to reach a peace agreement.  So that moment may come.  I hope not because I hope we get a peace deal. QUESTION:  So, Mr. Secretary, a lot of people have heard President Trump threaten sanctions for months, and they are wondering:  Are they empty threats?  Why hasn’t he punished Putin to date for this war since taking office? SECRETARY RUBIO:  Well, again, every single sanction that was in place on the day he took over remain.  Every – and the impact of all those sanctions remain.  When the Russians landed in Alaska, they tried – they were there to refuel.  They had to offer to pay in cash to refuel their airplanes because they can’t use our banking system.  They face consequences every single day.  But the bottom line is that that has not altered the direction of this war.  That doesn’t mean those sanctions are inappropriate.  It means it hasn’t altered the outcome of it. And here’s what we do think is important, and that is that we end this war.  To end this war you have to be able to engage with the Russians.  As much as people may not like it, as distasteful as people may find it, the only way to end this war is to get the Russians to agree, as well as the Ukrainians, but the Russians to agree to a peace deal. And the minute you issue new sanctions, your ability to get them to the table, our ability to get them to the table, will be severely diminished.  That moment may arrive.  But when it comes, what you’re basically signaling is there is no opportunity for peace at this point, so just let’s put on more sanctions and allow more people to get bombed and more people to be killed.  And that’s what we’re trying to stop. QUESTION:  So, Mr. Secretary, what will Russia have to give up?  What concessions will Russia, the aggressor, have to make as a part of this peace agreement? SECRETARY RUBIO:  Well, that’s what these negotiations are about.  And as you can imagine, everybody goes into a negotiation wanting a hundred percent of what they want.  That includes Ukraine but obviously the Russians.  And the only way to reach a deal on anything, whether it’s in business or in politics or in geopolitics, the only way to reach a deal is for each side to get something and each side to give something. And that’s been very difficult.  If it was easy, this wouldn’t have been going on for three and a half years.  Understand the longer these wars go on, the harder they are to end, unfortunately, because one side is always looking for leverage on the other – in this particular case the Russian side as well.  QUESTION:  Yeah. SECRETARY RUBIO:  And so I think that’s the core of what we’re trying to work through here.  That’s why Zelenskyy is coming tomorrow.  That’s why European leaders are coming tomorrow.  That’s why the President called them from the airplane, spent two hours in the middle of the night talking to them.  And that’s why we’ve been engaged with them every step of the way, is we are trying to find what can we get to that both sides can agree on, and it’s been difficult.  This is a hard issue set.  But we’re dedicating a lot of time to it, and the President deserves credit for dedicating time to it. QUESTION:  And I understand that these negotiations are ongoing, but can you name one thing that President Trump is asking Russia to give up in order to get peace? SECRETARY RUBIO:  Well, I’m not going to disclose those things because if we do then you can imagine the negotiations could fall apart.  These negotiations – look, I know everybody wants to know what’s happening, and to a certain degree that’s important.  But what’s more important is that these negotiations work. And for us to run to the press – like, you see these leaks sometimes that are completely inaccurate, and in many cases sometimes you see leaks out there that undermine the negotiations, okay?  These negotiations, in order for them to be successful, allow – require for us to allow both sides to agree to potential concessions or discuss potential concessions without it finding its way in the public sphere and creating all kinds of internal problems for one country or the other country. So here’s the bottom line.  We all know what the elements of such a deal – there has to be talk about what the territories are going to look like and what the border lines are going to look like at the end of this conflict.  There has to be talk about Ukraine’s legitimate desire for security in the long term to make sure they don’t get invaded again.  There has to be talk about how Ukraine is rebuilt.  And how do you rebuild a country that’s been attacked as often as it has over the last three and a half years?  These are all key elements of any agreement. QUESTION:  Yeah. SECRETARY RUBIO:  We understand that.  And each side is – and if there’s going to be a deal, each side — QUESTION:  Yeah. SECRETARY RUBIO:  — is going to have to give up on something.  That’s just a fact. QUESTION:  Mr. Secretary, I want to show folks what Ukraine looks like right now.  This is a map of Ukraine.  That red section there, that’s the area currently under control by Russia.  It’s about 20 percent of the entire country.  There are reports that Putin is asking to keep all of this territory in a potential deal.  Is that what’s being discussed?  Can you confirm that? SECRETARY RUBIO:  Well, I can confirm that he’s given speeches in which he has said that repeatedly, that he wants these territories. QUESTION:  So he’s asking for that now in these private conversations? SECRETARY RUBIO:  Well, look, ultimately he – if that – the Ukrainians are not willing to give that up, and no one’s pushing Ukraine to give that up, and so I don’t think that’s – if there’s going to be a peace deal, it’s not going to look like that.  But he certainly is making – he’s certainly making demands.  He’s certainly asking for things that the Ukrainians and others are not willing to be supportive of and that we’re not going to push them to give, and the Ukrainians are asking for things that the Russians are not going to give up on.  I know this sounds – I know everybody wants to have more detail, but we’re trying to have a serious negotiation here and see if we can find any middle ground between two warring parties and a very difficult war where the Russians feel, as they always do, like they have momentum on their side, and the Ukrainians have been incredibly brave in fighting back and in the defensive posture they’ve taken.  The Ukrainians have inflicted a tremendous amount of damage on the Russians.  I think last month alone, 20,000 – 20,000 – Russian soldiers were killed in one month in this war.  So the Ukrainians have inflicted tremendous amount of damage on the Russians as a result of this. Both sides are very dug in.  This is a difficult one, but we’re going to continue to work on it, because the President’s made it a priority to try to end the war that should have never happened.  QUESTION:  Mr. Secretary, you were one of the few people in that room with President Putin and President Trump.  You got to look him in the eyes.  Do you believe that President Putin believes in Ukraine’s right to exist based on what you heard and saw? SECRETARY RUBIO:  Well, look, I wasn’t playing any of those games about looking people in the eye and trying to read their minds.  I’m reading actions, and that’s what we’re looking at is actions.  What will you agree to, what will you commit to, and what will you follow up on?  And in order for this war to end, Russia will have to take actions, Ukraine will have to take actions; Ukraine’s partners and allies will have to take actions as well to enforce that piece in the long term.  That’s what we’re interested in, not all – I get all the drama around this stuff and – but at the end of the day, we are talking about a war in which people are being killed and maimed every single day, in which a country has been dismembered by 20 percent, as you just pointed out, and it’s really important to bring this war to an end.  This war doesn’t get better.  It gets worse as time goes on.  It gets worse.  It actually threatens to spill over into other areas.  So it needs to be stopped. QUESTION:  Yeah.  SECRETARY RUBIO:  That’s why the President’s made it a priority, and that’s what we’re focused on: concrete actions by both sides, especially the Russian side, to bring this conflict to an end.  And we’re going to do everything we can to make it happen.  Is it possible?  I don’t know, but we’re going to try.  We’ve tried – we’ve spent a lot of time on this issue.  We have a lot of other issues to focus on, but the President’s made this a priority, and he deserves credit for that. QUESTION:  Mr. Secretary, a couple more questions, and we’re almost out of time.  NBC News is reporting this morning that NATO-like security guarantees for Ukraine were discussed as a part of this agreement.  Can you tell us what role would the United States play in such a security agreement? SECRETARY RUBIO:  Well, there will have to be some security guarantees for Ukraine, right?  I mean, it’s one of their fundamental demands is that, if this war were to end, they have to make sure this never happens again.  They don’t want to get reinvaded.  They don’t want to wait three or four years from now and find another – so – a war on their hands.  So there’s going to have to be some security guarantees as part of it.  How that’s structured, how that’s built, what our role will be, that will be the kinds of things we’ll have to work through.  But again, that is going to be a key element of this deal, and it is something that, in order for there to be a peace, the Russian side is going to have to accept that Ukraine is a sovereign country that has a right to defend itself and has a right to enter into alliances with other countries to defend itself.  How that’s constructed, what we call it, how it’s built, what guarantees are built in there that are enforceable, that’s what we’ll be talking about over the next few days with our partners who are coming in from overseas tomorrow for a series of meetings, and in the days to come.  QUESTION:  Yeah. SECRETARY RUBIO:  We had a long phone call about this yesterday with several of the national security advisors from various countries in Europe.  QUESTION:  Mr. Secretary, I want to play something you said about President Putin.  This was right after the invasion in March of 2022.  Take a look. SENATOR RUBIO:  This guy lies, habitually lies.  He’s never kept a deal they’ve ever signed, and he’s lied all – he lies all the time.  And I don’t know why, but he plays us like a – like a violin in the West, because the West wants to believe that you can cut a deal with everybody.  You can’t cut a deal with guys like this.  He’s a professional, experienced liar. QUESTION:  Mr. Secretary, given that, what makes you think that if you are able to reach a deal with President Putin, that he would stick to it based on, as you just said, he’s a liar?  SECRETARY RUBIO:  Well, that’s the point.  That’s why the deal has to have enforceable mechanisms in it.  That’s why the deal has to have things like security guarantees.  That’s the point I was making a few minutes ago when you were asking me about looking someone in the eye.  What’s important here is actions, not words, not a paper document.  Those are all important.  Those are elements of a deal, but they have to be enforceable.  They have to be verifiable; they have to be enduring.  There’s no point here in signing a deal that’s going to be violated in three or four months.  There’s no point in doing that.  It actually would make things worse. So that’s why this is such a difficult thing.  Not only do you need a deal – you need a deal that’s verifiable, that’s enforceable, and that’s enduring.  If you don’t achieve that, then I think you could have a ceasefire for a few months, a few weeks, and then the war will start again and more people will die.  That’s not the outcome we’re interested in.  That’s not the outcome anybody wants.  So that’s why this is so difficult.  QUESTION:  All right.  Secretary of State Marco Rubio, thank you so much for joining us after an historic week.  We really appreciate it. SECRETARY RUBIO:  Thank you. Tags Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs Media Engagement Office of the Spokesperson Russia Russia-Ukraine War The Secretary of State Ukraine Secretary of State Marco Rubio with Jesse Watters of Jesse Watters Primetime on Fox News 08/18/2025 Secretary of State Marco Rubio with Jesse Watters of Jesse Watters Primetime on Fox News 08/18/2025 09:39 PM EDT Marco Rubio, Secretary of State Washington, D.C. HomeOffice of the SpokespersonPress Releases…Secretary of State Marco Rubio with Jesse Watters of Jesse Watters Primetime on Fox News hide Secretary of State Marco Rubio with Jesse Watters of Jesse Watters Primetime on Fox News Interview August 18, 2025 QUESTION:  Secretary of State Marco Rubio joins us now.  All right, Secretary, you were in the room this afternoon with President Trump, Zelenskyy, all the European leaders.  Was there a big moment that happened? SECRETARY RUBIO:  Well, I think the whole thing was a big moment, unprecedented really when you think about all these European leaders came here – seven that were there, and that included the head of the – of NATO and the head of the EU.  And they all said the same thing, which is this – after three years of sort of deadlock and no talks and no change in circumstances, this is the first time where there seems to be some movement.  Now look, this is a complicated war.  There’s no doubt about it.  I mean, this has been going on for three and a half years.  A lot of people have died, a lot of territories exchanged back and forth, so it’s not an easy thing to unwind.  But nothing was happening on this war, literally.  The only option that we were given under the previous administration was continue to fund Ukraine for however much they need for however long it takes, and now you have people actually talking about pathways towards ending it. Now, it’s going to take a little bit more work and a little bit more time, but we are making progress.  It’s not me saying it.  That is virtually every leader there today said that in front of the cameras, and they’re saying it for a reason, because it’s true and they’re witnessing it and they’ve been a part of it. QUESTION:  So these European nations – and some of these are NATO countries – are they willing to put troops on the ground in Ukraine to cement this peace deal?  Would that make Ukraine kind of like a NATO ally? SECRETARY RUBIO:  Well, what’s being contemplated – look, any sovereign country in the world has a right to enter into security alliances with other countries.  It’s not just NATO.  We have such alliances with South Korea.  We have it with Japan.  Other countries have it with each other.  And so I think everyone would acknowledge – including, by the way, for the first time the Russian side under President Trump’s sort of pressure or suggestion – is that in fact a Ukraine post-conflict has a right to enter into security agreements with other countries.  And we will work with our European allies, and non-European countries by the way, to build such a security guarantee.  We’re working on that right now.  We’ll continue to work on that.  And that will be something that will have to be in place after a peace deal so that Ukraine can feel safe moving forward.  And we’re coordinating that as we speak.  We’re involved in the coordination of it. So yeah, there are a number of countries that are willing to step forward and provide Ukraine security guarantees.  But as the Ukrainians have said to us, and I think have said publicly, the strongest security guarantee they can come up with with their future is to have a strong military moving forward, and that’s the other dynamic that’s changed.  We’re no longer giving Ukraine weapons.  We’re no longer giving Ukraine money.  We are now selling them weapons, and European countries are paying for it through NATO.  They are using NATO to buy the weapons and transfer them to Ukraine.  That’s another big change from the way this war was approached just a few – just under the Biden administration, for example. QUESTION:  Absolutely.  And the minerals deal is also a nice security guarantee. SECRETARY RUBIO:  Correct. QUESTION:  Another way.   Were you in the room when the President talked to Vladimir Putin? SECRETARY RUBIO:  I was, I was.  And in that conversation, what came from it is that the President suggested that Zelenskyy and Putin meet, so we’re working on that now to try to set that up for them to meet somewhere, which, again, would be unprecedented.  And then if that goes well, hopefully the next meeting will be a meeting between Presidents Putin, Trump, and Zelenskyy, where we hope to finalize a deal.  We’re not there yet, but that’s what we’re aiming towards and that’s one of the things that was discussed today, is how to get to that point. But just the fact that Putin is saying, sure, I’ll meet with Zelenskyy – that’s a big deal.  I mean, I’m not saying they’re going to leave that room best friends.  I’m not saying they’re going to leave that room with a peace deal.  But I think the fact that people are now talking to each other, this wasn’t happening for three and a half years.  This was a stalemated war of death and destruction.  And let me tell you something.  This President hates war and he – he hates it.  He thinks it’s a waste of money and a waste of lives, and he has made it a priority – President Trump has – to bring about peace.  If he sees an opportunity to step in and broker a peace, he wants to do it.  He’s been successful already six times in six months in achieving that, and he wants to achieve it with Ukraine and Russia as well. QUESTION:  So the timeline, it looks, ideally, is Vladimir Putin meets with Zelenskyy and then President Trump and Zelenskyy and Vladimir Putin meet, the three of them, and hopefully cement some sort of peace deal then.  The issue about giving land back seems to be the sticking point.  Is that the main sticking point, is that Russia wants to keep the land that it’s taken militarily?  And how do you get around that?  What’s the negotiation over there?  SECRETARY RUBIO:  Yeah, I don’t think it’s helpful to go into all the details of that, obviously, because these negotiations, frankly, work best when they’re done privately and in a negotiation setting.  But look, I think we all understand that — QUESTION:  What?  You don’t want to do it on national TV on Jesse Watters Primetime, Secretary?  I mean, that’s just crazy.  SECRETARY RUBIO:  (Laughter.)  No.  Oh, well, we’ll be more than – when we have a deal, I’ll describe it to you for sure.  QUESTION:  Okay. SECRETARY RUBIO:  But look, that’s why you’ve got to give these guys space to work.  I mean, they have their own constituencies, okay?  They have their own considerations, and you don’t want to give away one side’s leverage in that regard.  But let me just say this about it:  I think everyone understands that some of the key elements to bringing this about is Ukraine has to feel safe moving forward.  In essence, they have to believe that at the end of this war, they are in a position to never get invaded again.  I think what’s also true – and I think it’s common sense, and I don’t know why it’s so hard for a lot of people to understand it – is in any negotiation to bring about the end of a war or any conflict for that matter, it’s going to require both sides to receive but also to give.  In essence, one side is not going to get 100 percent here.  Each side is going to have to make some concessions.  And obviously, land or where you draw those lines – where the war stops – is going to be part of that conversation.  And it’s not easy, and maybe it’s not even fair, but it’s what it takes in order to bring about an end to a war.  And that’s been true in every war.  The only wars that don’t end that way are the ones that have unconditional surrender by one side or the other, and we’re not going to see that in this conflict.  So obviously, the issue of that will be talked about, and the President’s been very clear.  In the end, what those lines look like are up to Putin and up to Zelenskyy and up to the Ukrainian side to decide what each of them can live with.  We are going to be there to facilitate that and make that possible and make sure that both sides are talking.   And by the way, President Trump is the only leader in the world – acknowledged by all the Europeans – the only leader in the world that can talk to both of them and bring them both to a meeting, is Donald J. Trump, the President of the United States.  He’s the only one.  And the fact that he’s willing to do it is something that every American, including Democrats, should be happy that we have a peace President; we should be proud that we have a President that’s made peace a priority in his administration. QUESTION:  Absolutely.  And I think Zelenskyy symbolically already making some concessions, because he put on kind of a suit.  So that is progress, Secretary. SECRETARY RUBIO:  It looked good, right?  QUESTION:  I think it looked great.  SECRETARY RUBIO:  Yeah.  Yeah, he looked great.  QUESTION:  We like to see it.  SECRETARY RUBIO:  Yeah. QUESTION:  Well, great job, and keep up the great work.  I know it’s tough stuff, but it looks like there is a lot of momentum here.  SECRETARY RUBIO:  Thank you. Tags Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs European Union (EU) Media Engagement North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Office of the Spokesperson Russia Russia-Ukraine War The Secretary of State Ukraine Secretary Rubio’s Call with Foreign Minister Fidan 08/19/2025 Secretary Rubio’s Call with Foreign Minister Fidan 08/19/2025 10:43 AM EDT Office of the Spokesperson HomeOffice of the SpokespersonPress Releases…Secretary Rubio’s Call with Foreign Minister Fidan hide Secretary Rubio’s Call with Foreign Minister Fidan Readout August 19, 2025 The below is attributable to Principal Deputy Spokesperson Tommy Pigott: Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke today with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan regarding peace negotiations between Russia and Ukraine.  The Secretary and Foreign Minister agreed on the need to end the war and stop the killing.  They also discussed numerous regional issues, including their continued support for peace and stability in Syria, peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan, and Iran’s nuclear program. Tags Bilateral Relations and Engagement Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs Office of the Spokesperson The Secretary of State Turkey Sanctioning Facilitators of Iran’s Illicit Oil Sales 08/21/2025 Sanctioning Facilitators of Iran’s Illicit Oil Sales 08/21/2025 01:19 PM EDT Thomas "Tommy" Pigott, Principal Deputy Spokesperson HomeOffice of the SpokespersonPress Releases…Sanctioning Facilitators of Iran’s Illicit Oil Sales hide Sanctioning Facilitators of Iran’s Illicit Oil Sales Press Statement August 21, 2025 Today, the United States is stemming the flow of revenue the Iranian regime uses to fund its destabilizing activities, including its support for terrorism abroad and the oppression of its own people. The Department of State is imposing sanctions on two China-based crude oil and petroleum products terminal and storage operators that have facilitated the import of millions of barrels of illicit Iranian oil onboard multiple U.S.-designated tankers.  This action is the Department’s fourth round of sanctions targeting China-based terminal operators, which play a vital role in the trade network for Iranian crude oil that funds Iran’s terrorism abroad and destabilizes the region. Concurrently, the Department of the Treasury is sanctioning Antonios Margaritis and his network of companies for exploiting his status in the oil industry to illicitly trade in Iranian petroleum.  The Treasury action also targets other entities and vessels involved in shipping Iranian oil. The United States will continue to take action to implement National Security Presidential Memorandum 2.  This directive imposes maximum pressure on the Iranian regime to deny it access to revenues that fund its destabilizing activities.  Today’s action is being taken pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 13846 for knowingly engaging in a significant transaction for the transport of petroleum or petroleum products from Iran, and E.O. 13902, which targets Iran’s petroleum sector.  Today’s action also marks the latest round of sanctions targeting Iranian oil sales since the President issued National Security Presidential Memorandum 2 (NSPM-2), instituting a campaign of maximum economic pressure on Iran.  For more information on today’s action, please see the Department of the Treasury press releases. Tags Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs Economy and Trade Policy Iran Office of the Spokesperson The Secretary of State Sanctions on Iran’s Oil Network to Further Impose Maximum Pressure on Iran 08/21/2025 Sanctions on Iran’s Oil Network to Further Impose Maximum Pressure on Iran 08/21/2025 02:47 PM EDT Office of the Spokesperson HomeOffice of the SpokespersonPress Releases…Sanctions on Iran’s Oil Network to Further Impose Maximum Pressure on Iran hide Sanctions on Iran’s Oil Network to Further Impose Maximum Pressure on Iran Fact Sheet August 21, 2025 The Iranian regime continues to fuel conflict and instability in the Middle East, disrupting trade flows, developing its nuclear program, and funding terrorist and proxy groups.  Today, the United States is taking more aggressive action to stem the flow of revenue that the regime uses to support terrorism abroad, as well as to oppress its own people.  The Department of State is imposing sanctions on two China-based crude oil and petroleum products terminal and storage operators that have facilitated the import of millions of barrels of Iranian-origin oil onboard multiple U.S.-designated tankers.  This action is the Department’s fourth round of sanctions targeting China-based terminal operators, which continue to play a vital role in the Iranian crude oil supply chain. This action is in furtherance of National Security Presidential Memorandum-2, which directs the imposition of maximum economic pressure on the Iranian regime. Today’s actions include the designation of one China-based crude oil terminal and storage operator in the Dongjiakou Port Area of China’s Shandong Province, the largest entry point for Iranian crude oil into China by volume.  QINGDAO PORT HAIYE DONGJIAKOU OIL PRODUCTS CO., LTD (DJK OIL PRODUCTS) operates multiple crude oil and petroleum products berths in the Dongjiakou port area, as well as a large petroleum storage facility.  The majority of the crude oil cargos imported by DJK OIL PRODUCTS are of Iranian origin.  In 2025, the terminal has imported at least 65 million barrels of Iranian-origin crude oil transported by numerous shadow fleet vessels since December 2024, to include U.S.-designated crude oil tankers.  Additionally, several of the cargos received by DJK OIL PRODUCTS were marketed and sold by the U.S.-designated NATIONAL IRANIAN OIL COMPANY (NIOC). The Department is also designating YANGSHAN SHENGANG INTERNATIONAL PETROLEUM STORAGE AND TRANSPORTATION CO., LTD (YANGSHAN SHENGANG), a China-based crude oil terminal and storage operator in the Yangshan Port Area of China’s Zhejiang Province.  YANGSHAN SHENGANG operates several crude oil and petroleum product berths, including NO.1, NO. 2, and NO. 3 berths in the Yangshan Port Area of the greater Zhoushan Port complex.  On March 24, 2025, YANGSHAN SHENGANG received the U.S.-designated vessel TURACO (IMO 9247780) and facilitated the discharge of over half a million barrels of Iranian crude oil sold by NIOC.  TURACO had been identified on January 10, 2025, pursuant to E.O. 14024 and E.O. 13662 as property in which SINO SHIP MANAGEMENT COMPANY LIMITED had an interest, prior to its port call at the YANGSHAN SHENGANG terminal.  From April 6, 2024, to March 24, 2025, YANGSHAN SHENGANG received at least six shipments of Iranian-origin crude oil, totaling over four million barrels of oil.  Additionally, YANGSHAN SHENGANG received port calls from the U.S.-designated vessels VLADIMIR ARSENYEV (IMO 9901025), NIKOLAY ZADORNOV (IMO 9901037), YURI SENKEVICH (IMO 9301419), and SI HE (IMO 9378618) on February 23, 2025, February 13, 2025, January 28, 2025, and March 3, 2025, respectively. SANCTIONS IMPLICATIONS  As a result of today’s sanctions-related actions, and in accordance with E.O. 13846, all property and interests in property of the designated persons described above that are in the United States or in possession or control of U.S. persons are blocked and must be reported to the Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).  Additionally, all entities and individuals that have ownership, either directly or indirectly, 50 percent or more by one or more blocked persons are also blocked.   All transactions by U.S. persons or within (or transiting) the United States that involve any property or interests in property of designated or otherwise blocked persons are prohibited unless authorized by a general or specific license issued by OFAC or exempt.  These prohibitions include the making of any contribution or provision of funds, goods, or services by, to, or for the benefit of any blocked person and the receipt of any contribution or provision of funds, goods, or services from any such person.   The power and integrity of U.S. government sanctions derive not only from the U.S. government’s ability to designate and add persons to the Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons (SDN) List, but also from its willingness to remove persons from the SDN List consistent with the law.  The ultimate goal of sanctions is not to punish, but to bring about a positive change in behavior.   Petitions for removal from the SDN List may be sent to: OFAC.Reconsideration@treasury.gov.  Petitioners may also refer to the Department of State’s Delisting Guidance page. Tags Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs China Division for Counter Threat Finance and Sanctions Illicit Financing and Sanctions Evasion Iran Office of the Spokesperson Sanctions and Designations Supply Chains The Week at State: August 15–21, 2025 08/22/2025 View as a webpage  /  Share August 15 – 21 Good morning. Through their bold diplomacy, President Trump and Secretary Rubio are finally breaking the deadlock between Russia and Ukraine, creating a genuine opportunity for lasting peace. Here’s what happened at State this week. ⤵️ 🌎 President Trump continued to deliver on his promise to broker peace around the world. 🛂 The United States remained clear and steadfast in our opposition to the International Criminal Court’s politicization.  🤝 Secretary Rubio met with Turkmenistan’s Foreign Minister Rashid Meredov and Canadian Foreign Minister Anita Anand in Washington. President Trump is Pursuing Peace President Trump meets with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European leaders in the Oval Office on August 18. (White House/Daniel Torok.) “The President, Donald J. Trump, is focused on peace. There is nothing he wants more than to be a part of peace agreements”, said Secretary Rubio. On August 15, President Trump met with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Alaska Summit to discuss how to restore peace between Russia and Ukraine.   “It was determined by all that the best way to end the horrific war between Russia and Ukraine is to go directly to a Peace Agreement,” said President Trump in an X post. After a historic meeting with President Putin, President Trump held a Peace Summit that brought together Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European allies at the White House.  “We’re going to work with Ukraine, we’re going to work with everybody, and we’re going to make sure that if there’s peace, that peace is going to stay long-term", said President Trump in an X post. Protecting Our Sovereignty On August 20, Secretary Rubio sanctioned four additional International Criminal Court’s (ICC) officials following the ongoing threats to U.S. citizens and Israeli allies.  These measures aim to counter the ICC’s politically motivated investigations and ensure that Americans and partners are shielded from unwarranted prosecution.   The sanctions will block all U.S.-based property and interests of the sanctioned individuals, requiring U.S. persons to report them to the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, as stated in a fact sheet. “It remains the policy of the United States Government to take whatever actions we deem necessary to protect our troops, our sovereignty, and our allies from the ICC’s illegitimate and baseless actions,” said Secretary Rubio in a statement. Secretary Rubio’s Diplomatic Engagements Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with Turkmenistan Foreign Minister Rashid Meredov and Canadian Foreign Minister Anita Anand in Washington this week. (StateDept.) Secretary Rubio welcomed Turkmenistan Foreign Minister Rashid Meredov to the Department of State as well as Canadian Foreign Minister Anita Anand.  Secretary Rubio thanked Foreign Minister Meredov for Turkmenistan’s assistance to U.S. citizens fleeing Iran during the recent Israel-Iran conflict. Secretary Rubio also reiterated the United States’ commitment to continue working with Turkmenistan to expand economic and commercial ties. Secretary Rubio and Canadian Foreign Minister Anita Anand discussed the need to support Haiti, end Hamas’s ongoing obstruction of peace in Gaza, and strengthen our hemisphere’s response to China’s coercive economic and political activity. News You May Have Missed Secretary Rubio appeared on the Sunday shows to discuss the President’s ongoing pursuit of peace after his meeting with President Putin and ahead of his talks with President Zelenskyy and European leaders. Watch clips from the Secretary’s appearances on Meet the Press, ABC This Week, Sunday Morning Futures, and Face the Nation.  The United States and the European Union finalized a historic Framework Agreement on Reciprocal, Fair, and Balanced trade, creating a major win for American workers, U.S. industries, and our national security. Andrew Puzder was sworn in as the U.S. Ambassador to the European Union.  Secretary Rubio spoke with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan about peace negotiations between Russia and Ukraine.  Secretary Rubio had a call with Kenyan President William Ruto about Kenya’s continued leadership and efforts to restore peace and security in Haiti, reaffirming the strong strategic partnership between the United States and Kenya. 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