Russia may seek control over entire Ukraine, Rubio says

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has raised the possibility that Russia may ultimately be seeking control over the entirety of Ukraine, according to an account by journalist Chris Whipple of Vanity Fair.

As Vanity Fair reported, Whipple’s conversation with Rubio took place in October. During that exchange, the journalist asked whether Rubio shared an earlier assessment by US President Donald Trump, who had suggested that Russian President Vladimir Putin was pursuing control over all of Ukraine.

Rubio explained that, in the course of discussions on potential conflict resolution, proposals were considered that would have frozen the fighting along the existing front line. Those options, he said, would have allowed Russia to keep significant territory, including Crimea, which has been under Russian control since 2014.

“Which include substantial parts of Ukrainian territory, including Crimea, which they’ve controlled since 2014. And the Russians continue to turn it down. And so…you do start to wonder, well, maybe what this guy wants is the entire country,” he said.

At the same time, White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles told the publication that, according to some experts, Russia would be happy if the part of Donbas it does not currently control came under its control. Wiles also noted that President Donald Trump does not agree with this assessment.

“Donald Trump thinks he [Putin] wants the whole country,” she emphasised.

Earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin stated that Russia does not need anything that belongs to others, but Moscow does not intend to give up what it considers its own.

By Jeyhun Aghazada