Rubio doubts Ukraine’s ability to retake Crimea, calls for talks

PanARMENIAN.Net - U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has condemned Russia's military actions in Ukraine but argued that it is "dishonest" to claim Kyiv could have completely defeated Russia and restored the situation to what it was before 2014. His remarks appeared in an interview published on January 30, the Kyiv Independent reports.

While acknowledging that Russian President Vladimir Putin has committed "atrocities" and "horrible things" during the invasion, Rubio expressed skepticism over Ukraine’s chances of securing a total military victory.

"But what the dishonesty that has existed is that we somehow led people to believe that Ukraine would be able, not just to defeat Russia, but destroy (Putin), push him all the way back to what the world looked like in 2012 or 2014 before the Russians took Crimea," Rubio said on the Megyn Kelly Show.

U.S. President Donald Trump has persistently criticized the Biden administration’s extensive support for Ukraine and has vowed to negotiate a swift resolution to the war.

Sharing similar concerns, Trump’s secretary of state argued that Washington has been "fund(ing) a stalemate" in a war that has "set (Ukraine) back 100 years" and called for a rapid end to the conflict.

"The energy grid is being wiped out. Someone's going to have to pay for all this reconstruction. And how many Ukrainians have left Ukraine (and are) living in other countries now? They may never return," Rubio said.

Throughout the full-scale war, Russia has relentlessly targeted Ukraine's energy infrastructure with missile and drone attacks, leading to widespread power shortages. Since the invasion began, more than 6 million Ukrainians have fled their homeland.

"The nation’s future hangs in the balance in this regard," the U.S. official added. Rubio reaffirmed his stance that "both sides of the conflict will need to make compromises" to reach a viable peace agreement.

Earlier in January, Rubio took steps to freeze nearly all foreign assistance handled through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). The move has posed a significant obstacle for numerous civilian programs in Ukraine, including those focused on energy infrastructure, that depend on U.S. funding.

Kyiv and the Pentagon clarified that this decision did not impact military aid from the U.S. to Ukraine.

In addition to his criticism of the Biden administration’s Ukraine policy, Rubio also pointed to the U.S.'s "chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan" in 2021, arguing that it signaled to Putin that "America was actually in decline or distracted," which may have influenced his decision to launch the full-scale invasion.