‘Concessions must be made by all’ says Rubio, quizzed on Russia sanctions relief
Asked at a press briefing, following talks between the United States and Russia in Saudia Arabia, 18 February, whether ‘sanctions relief is going to be involved in …normalising, or trying to more level-set the relationship [between Moscow and Washington]’, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said,
‘Well, sanctions are all the result of this conflict. There are sanctions that were imposed as a result of this conflict. And so I would say to you that in order to bring an end to any conflict there has to be concessions made by all sides. We’re not going to predetermine what those are. We’re certainly not going to negotiate this today or in a press conference for that matter.’
‘But,’ he added, ‘The European Union is going to have to be at the table at some point because they have sanctions as well that have been imposed.’
Asked by reporters what the ‘next step’ in negotiations might be, Rubio said,
‘The first next step is working through our respective teams at the diplomatic side just to ensure that our diplomatic missions can function. There’s been a series of reciprocal actions taken over the last ten years that have really diminished our ability to operate in Moscow as an example, and they would argue their ability to operate in Washington. We’re going to need to have vibrant diplomatic missions that are able to function normally in order to be able to continue these conduits.
‘The second is a high-level team, including those who are experts on these topics of the technical side, to begin to engage with their side on parameters of what an end to this conflict would look like. And on that front, obviously, there’s going to be engagement and consultation with Ukraine, with our partners in Europe, and others. But ultimately there are – the Russian side will be indispensable to this effort and to – so that process will begin.
‘And then the third is – together with those other two – is beginning to engage in identifying the extraordinary opportunities that exists. Should this conflict come to an acceptable end, the incredible opportunities that exist to partner with the Russians, geopolitically on issues of common interest, and frankly economically on issues that hopefully will be good for the world and will also improve our relations in the long term between these two important countries.’
