US State Secretary Rubio: Russians had to pay cash to refuel planes in Alaska

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has explained that despite US President Donald Trump’s repeated threats to punish Russia with sanctions for refusing to agree to a ceasefire, the United States does not plan to impose new restrictions at this stage, pointing out that existing sanctions forced the Russian delegation in Alaska to pay in cash to refuel their planes.

Source: Rubio in an interview with NBC News, as reported by European Pravda

Details: Rubio does not believe that further sanctions would make Russia agree to a ceasefire. "They're already under very severe sanctions," the US secretary of state said.

He stressed that there is no evidence that new sanctions would be effective and force Russia to lay down its arms immediately, since restrictions would take months or even years to take effect.

"We may very well wind up in that place [introducing new sanctions – ed.]. I hope not, because that means that peace talks failed," he said.

Rubio said that any announcement of new sanctions by Washington would bring peace talks to a halt.

"The minute he [Trump – ed.] 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," Rubio said.

He added that all the sanctions imposed on Russia at the time of Trump’s inauguration remain in force.

"Every single sanction that was in place on the day he took over remain. And the impact of all those sanctions remain. You know, when the Russians landed in Alaska, 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," the US secretary of state added.

Background:

• Rubio also said that the United States will not pressure Ukraine to give up its territories to Russia as part of a peace agreement.
• President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has stated that if Russia does not agree to a trilateral meeting, then new sanctions must follow.

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