US Secretary Of State Marco Rubio Says Russia Sanctions To Stay For Now As Trump Eyes Putin Summit

(Bloomberg) -- Secretary of State Marco Rubio told European allies that the US will keep sanctions on Russia in place at least until a deal to end the Ukraine conflict is reached, even as his boss, President Donald Trump, said he’ll probably meet Vladimir Putin to discuss a settlement before the end of February.

Rubio gave the assurance that sanctions won’t be lifted sooner to a group of European counterparts on a call Tuesday, according to people familiar with the situation who asked not to be identified discussing private deliberations. The conversation took place after Rubio joined other US officials in Saudi Arabia Tuesday in the highest level face-to-face meeting with Russian counterparts since Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Ukraine and European allies were excluded from those talks, raising fears in Kyiv and beyond that the US will cut a deal with Putin to end the fighting that sacrifices the security of Ukraine and Europe, upending years of US policy.

Speaking later in Florida, Trump did little to assuage those concerns. “Russia wants to do something,” he said, adding that he was “much more reassured” that a deal could be reached after the talks in Riyadh.  

By contrast, Trump said he was “disappointed” to hear that Ukrainian officials complained about being left out of the talks. Blaming Russia’s invasion on Ukraine’s leadership under President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Trump said “you should have never started it. You could have made a deal.” He signaled support for holding new elections after an agreement.

The concern is if “Trump wants this to be over so badly and he seems to be looking at economic opportunities with Russia” there “really could be a quick and terrible end to the conflict,” said Andrea Kendall-Taylor, a former senior intelligence official who’s now director of the Transatlantic Security Program at the Center for a New American Security. “That’s what I’m really worried about.”

Mineral Rights

The same day Trump spoke to Putin by phone last week, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent was in Kyiv with a draft deal that would see Ukraine sign over half the value of its vast mineral rights to the US as compensation for aid. Zelenskiy declined to sign the pact, but Bessent said Tuesday he’s hopeful Kyiv will ultimately agree “once the Ukrainians understand that this is a long-term agreement that’s very beneficial to their security.”

The push to work with Russia signaled Trump’s desire to reset ties with Putin’s government that were ruptured over Russia’s invasion of Crimea in 2014, continued to deteriorate over a series of cyber-attacks and overseas assassinations and went into deep freeze with the invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Steadily increasing sanctions on Russian targets, from its central bank to major energy companies and top officials and tycoons, were a central part of the allied effort to squeeze the Kremlin.

Read More: Trump Wants Ukraine’s Minerals, But What Does It Actually Have?

Many of the sanctions were put in place in partnership with European allies. A US decision to remove the restrictions early would deal a serious blow to Europe’s effort to deny Putin the money he needs to fund his war machine.

Rubio’s assurances on sanctions may offer a measure of relief to European allies that have feared the US would let up on the crippling financial penalties that the Biden administration imposed on Russia over its invasion. 

A State Department spokesperson declined to comment on Rubio’s comments. A State Department readout of Rubio’s call with European allies didn’t mention sanctions but said the countries “agreed to remain in close contact as we work to achieve a durable end to the conflict in Ukraine.”

Earlier in the day, Rubio signaled sanctions relief would be part of any deal.

“There are sanctions that were imposed as a result of this conflict,” Rubio told reporters in Riyadh after the talks. “In order to bring an end to any conflict, there has to be concessions made by all sides.”

He added that a deal to end the war would open the “incredible opportunities that exist to partner with the Russians, geopolitically on issues of common interest, and frankly economically.”

Russian officials were also upbeat after the talks, hailing the prospect of pulling relations with the US out of the deep freeze even as they ruled out concessions such as allowing European troops into Ukraine to police a peace deal. 

“The Russians will undoubtedly demand lifting all sanctions as part of the ceasefire,” said Daniel Fried, a former top US sanctions official now at the Atlantic Council. 

Trump’s advisers “would be ill-advised to give into that demand because one, if you lift sanctions and then the Russians don’t adhere to the terms of the ceasefire, you’re a sucker,” he said. “And since when have the Russians adhered to any terms about anything in Ukraine?”

Rubio acknowledged that the European Union would need to come to the table given that the bloc’s countries have also imposed numerous sanctions on Russia. The EU currently has no plans to ease restrictions on Moscow.

Allied officials were encouraged last month when Trump threatened to tighten limits on Moscow to force Putin to negotiate. But there’s been no mention of such steps since the two leaders spoke by phone last week, the first such call since Russia’s invasion. Russian asset prices jumped on news of the conversation.

Still, Trump does not have a completely free hand in relaxing sanctions on Russia. Beyond any consultations with allies that might be required, the US would be required to notify Congress of any changes to some Russia sanctions after the Biden administration redesignated several entities before leaving office under a 2017 law that requires the president to tell Congress about waivers in advance of issuing them.

Just before leaving office, the outgoing administration tightened restrictions on the ships Russia uses to evade a Group of Seven effort to cap the price it’s paid for its oil exports and sanctioned two big Russian oil companies.

The G-7 is considering tightening the price cap and potentially revisiting the $60 per barrel price in a bid to further squeeze Moscow. But it is unclear whether the Trump administration would go along with such a move.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has been under US sanctions since the second day of Russia’s full-scale invasion, but the Trump administration didn’t see that as an obstacle to Rubio sitting down with him in Riyadh Tuesday. 

Putin is also sanctioned by the US, which has said “no one individual is more responsible for Russia’s war against Ukraine.” 

Asked if a meeting with the Russian leader would take place before the end of the month, Trump said, “probably,” without elaborating. Earlier in the day in Riyadh, Kremlin foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov said the two sides had discussed a meeting between the leaders but it was unlikely to take place next week.