Rubio denies that Trump supports total Russian control over Donbas: “These are things that Zelenskyy is going to have to decide on"

Secretary of State Marco Rubio assured that Donald Trump does not support allowing Russia total control over the Donbas region of Ukraine. The head of US diplomacy made the statement during a series of interviews on Sunday, in which he also threatened the Kremlin with new sanctions if a peace agreement is not reached in Ukraine. The statements came two days after the summit between the president and Vladimir Putin in Alaska.

The Donbas region encompasses the provinces of Donetsk and Luhansk, located in eastern Ukraine. It is a key industrial region, rich in coal and with a high population density. Since the war began, Russia has managed to occupy most of this territory militarily, making its control crucial in the negotiations to end the conflict.

In this context, Rubio was asked about this point on Fox News. “A European diplomat has confirmed to Fox that President Trump supports Putin's proposal for Russia to take full control of Donetsk and Luhansk, the entire Donbas. Do you support this move?” asked host Maria Bartiromo.

"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. We know that 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," replied the Secretary of State.

“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 about what they don't know with all these stupid leaks and things of that nature, they all want to just sound important,” he added.

Rubio threatened “consequences” for Russia if no agreement is reached

In another interview with NBC News, Rubio repeated Trump's previous warnings against Russia: "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," he added. 

In turn, in a conversation with CBS, he again referred to the division of territories between the two countries. 

"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," the Secretary of State said on “Face the Nation,” pointing out that this would require both sides "to give." 

"If one side gets everything they want, that's called surrender," Rubio stated. "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."

"I'm not saying we're on the verge of a peace deal, but I am saying that we saw movement," Rubio said. "Enough movement to justify a follow-up meeting with Zelenskyy and the Europeans, enough movement for us to dedicate even more time to this," he added.