Rubio: Trump-Putin talks “feel-out” meeting, not concession

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio downplayed concerns that President Donald Trump’s planned meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska on August 15 would hand Moscow a diplomatic victory, describing the summit as a “feel-out” session rather than a concession.

Speaking in an interview with Sid Rosenberg of Sid and Friends in the Morning, Rubio stated that Trump has had multiple phone calls with Putin, which did not lead to anything,so now he wants to talk to him in person, Caliber.Az reports.

“For President Trump, a meeting is not a concession. If you watch some of the news – I don’t watch a lot of it anymore – but you watch it, and these people are going nuts. Oh, this is – what a win for Putin; he gets a meeting. He doesn’t view it that way. A meeting is what you do to kind of figure out and make your decision. I want to have all the facts. I want to look this guy in the eye. And that’s what the President wants to do,” Rubio said.

Rubio noted that Trump has already spoken to Putin by phone three or four times this year without achieving the desired breakthrough on Ukraine. 

“Nothing has come of it and – or at least we haven’t gotten to where we want to be. And so the President feels like, look, I’ve got to look at this guy across the table. I need to see him face to face. I need to hear him one on one. I need to make an assessment by looking at him,” he said.

Rubio said the meeting will determine whether negotiations to end the war in Ukraine have a chance of success. 

“Honestly, I think we’re going to know very early in that meeting whether this thing has any chance of success or not,” he said.

The August 15 summit in Washington will focus on exploring ways to end the war in Ukraine. Trump announced the meeting last week, tying it to his deadline for Russia to accept a ceasefire or face additional US sanctions.

Despite three rounds of Russia-Ukraine talks this summer under US mediation, no significant progress has been made toward a peace deal. Rubio acknowledged the difficulty of the task, citing Russian losses of around 60,000 troops in July alone.

Calling Trump an “extraordinary dealmaker” with a strong instinct for reading people, Rubio said the President has been most effective in closing negotiations face-to-face. 

“It’s hard to do that on the phone,” he said, adding that in-person diplomacy had been key to Trump’s success in past agreements.

By Sabina Mammadli