In a fiery interview with CNN’s Kaitlan Collins, Secretary of State Marco Rubio strongly defended President Donald Trump’s strategy to Ukraine and Russia, outlining key points that set Trump’s strategy apart from current policies. Rubio sharply rebutted Collins' criticisms, emphasizing that Trump’s focus on peace and diplomatic pressure to secure negotiations was a more effective means to put Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy into his place.
Following the tense meeting between Trump, Vice President JD Vance, and Zelenskyy, Collins overlooked Zelenskyy's combative behavior, which included his decision to antagonize and provoke Trump in the Oval Office rather than pursue a path to peace. Meanwhile, Rubio contended that if Zelenskyy had adopted a more cooperative approach during the meeting, the leaders could have signed the rare Earth minerals deal, benefiting both countries. However, Zelenskyy stormed out in anger, resulting in no agreement.
We should be very proud that we have a President whose prime objective is not to get into wars but to prevent wars and to get out of wars. @POTUS wants to bring about an enduring and lasting peace in Ukraine. As Secretary of State, my goal is to support peace through strength. pic.twitter.com/Zvksk6a5j9
— Secretary Marco Rubio (@SecRubio) March 1, 2025
Rubio argued that Zelensky needs to apologize to Trump for “turning this thing into the fiasco for him that it became.”
“There was no need for him to go in there and become antagonistic. Look, this thing went off the rails,” Rubio stated. “When you start talking about that aggressively, and the President’s a deal maker. He’s made deals his entire life; you’re not going to get people to the table.”
He also questioned whether Zelensky even wanted to reach a peace agreement to end the three-year conflict between Ukraine and Russia.
“And so you start to perceive that maybe Zelensky doesn’t want a peace deal. He says he does, but maybe he doesn’t, and that active, open undermining of efforts to bring about peace is deeply frustrating for everyone who’s been involved in communications with them leading up to today,” Rubio said.
