Mike Quigley Presses Marco Rubio: 'What In The World Are We Doing' To Hold Putin Accountable?

7 months ago

During Wednesday's House Foreign Affairs Committee Wednesday, Rep. Mike Quigley (D-IL) questioned Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

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00:00Just in terms of Ukraine, my concern is that when you equate these two powers at the negotiating

00:14table, it does seem to diminish the fact that Russia was the aggressor and having been there

00:19five times since the war started, stood at the mass grave and heard accounts of rape

00:27and murder and the kidnapping of kids, I just don't hear the administration talking about

00:32holding Putin accountable for these things as part of these discussions.

00:37And finally, recognizing that Putin doesn't seem to have any reason to negotiate in good

00:42faith because he has, what, four to six times the manpower?

00:46He treats his troops like cannon fodder, and I think he probably recognized this is an administration

00:54that will do another supplemental.

00:56So what in the world are we doing to hold him accountable and to actually force him

01:01into negotiating in good faith and, again, not rewarding him with de facto land that he currently

01:08occupies?

01:09And what is it?

01:10We're punishing him that he can't have additional land?

01:13So what is it we are doing to actually hold him accountable and force him to negotiate in

01:18good faith beyond really stern tweets?

01:22Yeah.

01:22On the second point, those are the details that would have to be worked out in any negotiation.

01:26And as I said, he'll have to make concessions, and so will the Ukrainian side.

01:30I don't know what those are.

01:30We're not going to predetermine what those are.

01:32That's why we wanted to enter into direct negotiations.

01:35We honestly continue to believe.

01:37We're open to any peace deal, but we think it's very difficult to enter peace negotiations

01:40without a ceasefire because something blows up somewhere, some attack happens in the interim,

01:45and the negotiations fall apart.

01:47On your first question, listen, I sense, and I think we all do, what you're arguing here,

01:51okay, about the imbalance in the relationship, the invasion, things of that nature.

01:55But the bottom line is this war has been going on for three years, and there was no end in

01:59sight, and the only way you can end it is you've got to be able to bring both sides to the table,

02:03and we feel like the president, we know the president was in a unique position to be able

02:08to bring both sides to a table and be able to talk to both sides.

02:11It may ultimately not work out.

02:13It may ultimately not work out, but we have to at least try to make it work.

02:17And I think it's the same position, for example, the Vatican has adopted.

02:21There's a lot of pressure on the Vatican to condemn the Russians for their,

02:23but the way the Vatican has viewed it is unless we have both, unless we're able to talk to both sides,

02:27we have no hope whatsoever of trying to force a negotiation.

02:30There's no impetus on Putin to do anything.

02:33He won't do anything, and he will be rewarded.

02:35This is more like Chamberlain than someone who's trying to win a Nobel Peace Prize.

02:41Chamberlain didn't win a Nobel Peace Prize conceding this and saying,

02:44well, this war could be going on for a long time.

02:48FDR didn't say this war has been going on a long time.

02:50You know, we're not going to engage in a ball.

02:52We're just going to see if both sides can work this out.

02:54Aggressors like a tyrant, like Putin, aren't going to listen to goodwill.

03:00Well, I understand.

03:01I think the goal here is to reach a ceasefire so they can negotiate a broader deal that's fair and, frankly, sustainable.

03:07If it's an unsustainable peace, meaning if it's an unfair, unbalanced peace, it won't be sustainable.

03:11And our goal is to get them to that point.

03:13I hope we're successful because the alternative is more people will die.

03:16I agree.

03:17You

Mike Quigley Presses Marco Rubio: 'What In The World Are We Doing' To Hold Putin Accountable?

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