US continues to pressure Moscow and is not imposing sanctions on Ukraine – Rubio

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has reiterated the United States' current position as a mediator in the war between Russia and Ukraine.

The US Secretary of State was asked whether there might be a moment when the Donald Trump administration would change its tactics and increase pressure on Russia. In response, Rubio affirmed that "the administration has continued to increase pressure on Moscow."

"As an example, the President levied additional sanctions late last year on their oil company, on Rosneft. The administration continues to sell weaponry to Ukraine. We don't sell weapons to Russia and we don't sanction Ukraine. […] We're the only country or only entity on the planet that's been able to achieve having Russian negotiators and Ukrainian negotiators sit at a table and talk to one another," Rubio said, speaking to the press on 25 February.

He added that in a war as terrible as this one, "this is a very important position for us to be in that we don't want to forfeit."

"If we walk away or if we foreclose that, then who's going to do it? The United Nations isn't going to do it. France isn't going to do it. The EU isn't going to do it. The Russians won't even speak to them. So we don't want to walk away from – we know that, at the end, that war in Ukraine does not have a military solution," he contuniued.

Meanwhile, he stressed that Trump's patience is not unlimited.

"But I am not going to forecast for you when that runs out or at what point he decides not to do it any longer. I can tell you, and I think you've heard him express, a deep frustration that this has not come to an end, because he sees it as a completely stupid and senseless war…" Rubio added.

Rubio also spoke about US President Donald Trump's lack of understanding as to why Ukraine and Russia cannot reach an agreement to end the war.

Axios reported that during a phone call on 25 February, Trump told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that he wants the war to end within a month.