Rubio: US to not impose sanctions on Russia until Europe ends energy imports

The United States will hold off on imposing new sanctions on Russia until European countries take stronger action to curb their purchases of Russian energy, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in an interview with Fox News.

Speaking about President Donald Trump's involvement in trying to end the war in Ukraine, Rubio noted that "no one has worked harder to bring this to an end."

“It appears Putin may not be serious about peace. The president has expressed his deep disappointment about it. And he knows what his options are — at some point, we have to impose additional costs," the offiical steressed. 

However, Rubio made clear that the administration believes Europe must act first.

“Before we do that, Europe needs to do it,” he said. “They are demanding all these things of us, and yet you have countries in Europe still buying massive amounts of natural gas and oil from Russia and funding and fueling the Russian aggression campaign. So I think it's important for them to step up.”

By Sabina Mammadli