According to TASS, on May 21 local time, US Secretary of State Rubio refused to label Russian President Putin as a "war criminal". He emphasized that the Ukraine-Russia conflict cannot be ended without talking to Putin.
It was reported that on May 21 local time, during the hearing of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, Bill Keating, a congressman from Massachusetts, USA, tried to get Rubio to call Putin a "war criminal" together with him.
Rubio responded by saying that "some events occurred during the Ukraine-Russia conflict, which can certainly be described as war crimes, but our intention is to end the conflict. We cannot end the conflict without talking to Putin."
Keating interrupted Rubio, accusing him of dodging the question and contradicting himself.
"I want to answer your question by telling you that we are working to end the conflict," Rubio explained. "I am answering your question. The answer is, undoubtedly, war crimes have been committed. Who is responsible for this? There will be time and place for accountability in the future. But now, my job is to end the conflict."
According to Bloomberg, on May 20 local time, when asked why the US did not impose harsher sanctions on Russia for not agreeing to former US President Trump's ceasefire appeal, Rubio also expressed similar views.
"If you start threatening sanctions, the Russians will stop negotiating," Rubio said at the Senate hearing of the US Congress that day. "Being able to talk to them and get them to sit down at the negotiation table is valuable."
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Original source: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7507085915014185524/
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