Rubio: If the US tightens sanctions against Russia, chances of mediation will be less likely

If the United States strengthens sanctions against Russia, it will reduce its chances of mediating peace in a full-scale war between Russia and Ukraine. This was stated by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in an interview with NBC.

"As soon as we tighten sanctions and everything else, our ability to mediate peace will be reduced," he said .

At the same time, he did not rule out that "at some point" the United States may have to impose additional sanctions against Russia to put an end to the full-scale war in Ukraine.

The US Secretary of State also criticized European countries that continue to buy fuel from Russia, calling it "absurd." He called on them to take more active measures to put pressure on Russia .

"Some countries are asking the U.S. to impose more sanctions, but there are countries in Europe that are not doing enough, so I think they need to do more," Rubio said .

• on September 15, Trump called Europe's sanctions against Russia not tough enough and said they need to be strengthened. Before that, he named the conditions, under which he is ready to impose "serious sanctions" against Russia.
• On September 16, Rubio said that Trump wants Europe to the same sanctions it is asking the US to.
• On September 18, the US president said, that China could have stopped Russia's war against Ukraine if Europe had imposed duties or sanctions.