US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the United States will not impose further sanctions on Russia for now and still wants space to negotiate a peace deal.
“If we do what everybody here wants to do, which is come in and destroy them with new sanctions, we will probably lose the ability to talk to them about a ceasefire, and then who’s going to talk to them?”,Rubio said in an exclusive interview with Politico on the sidelines of the NATO summit.
He said Donald Trump “will know the right time and place” for new economic measures against Russia, and the administration is working with Congress to make sure they allow Trump to have the appropriate flexibility.
“If we have an opportunity to make a difference and bring them (Russia) to the negotiating table, we will take it,” Rubio added.
US President Donald Trump said on 17 June that Europe should impose new sanctions on Russia first and that the sanctions are costing Washington “a lot of money”. Trump explained that he was delaying sanctions because he was waiting for a possible agreement to end the war in Ukraine.
On 10 June, the European Commission presented proposals for the 18th package of sanctions against Russia. They include lowering the oil price cap from $60 per barrel to $45.
On 11 June, EU chief diplomat Kaja Kallas said that the bloc could lower the oil price ceiling without the involvement of the USA, and this would cause losses to the Russian economy.
According to her, the main channel for delivery of crude to the EU runs through the Baltic and Black Seas, whose territorial waters are mainly adjacent to the bloc’s countries, which, accordingly, will control ships and cargo on board.