Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., explained how he would work to end the war in Ukraine as secretary of state during his confirmation hearing Wednesday, Jan. 15. Rubio said it should be the official position of the United States that the war needs to end, which he contends differs from the Biden administration.
“My differences with the Biden administration throughout this process is that they never clearly delineated the end goal of what the conflict was. What exactly were we funding? What exactly were we putting money towards?” Rubio told the Foreign Relations Committee. “And on many occasions sounded like, ‘however much it takes for however long it takes.’ That is not a realistic or prudent position.”
Rubio explained that’s because no matter how much aid America and its allies provide, Ukraine is not big enough to keep fighting Russia.
“The problem that Ukraine is facing is not that they’re running out of money, it’s that they’re running out of Ukrainians,” Rubio said in a quote he attributed to an unknown individual. “Now, what Vladimir Putin’s done is unacceptable, there’s no doubt about it. But this war has to end.”
Rubio said the Ukraine war will end with hard diplomacy, and that both sides will need to make concessions. He said he does not yet know what the master plan looks like.
“The truth of the matter is that in this conflict there’s no way Russia takes all of Ukraine. The Ukrainians are too brave, and fight too hard, and the country is too big, that’s not gonna happen,” Rubio said. “It’s also unrealistic to believe that somehow a nation the size of Ukraine, no matter how incompetent and no matter how much damage the Russian Federation has suffered as a result of this invasion, there’s no way Ukraine is also going to push these people all the way back to where they were on the eve of the invasion.”
Rubio’s hearing could be considered a formality due to his broad support. He’s likely to have the fastest and smoothest process of all nominees, and could be confirmed on inauguration day.
