Marco Rubio Asked: 'Are You Willing Now To Put Stronger Sanctions On Russia' After Meeting With FM?

Speaking to reporters in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Secretary of State Marco Rubio was asked if Russia might be hit with stronger sanctions.

Transcript

00:00Mr. Secretary, Russia has launched its most massive attacks in the last three days,

00:07and you, of course, are your counterpart today.

00:10Are you willing now to put stronger sanctions on Russia?

00:13Well, the President has said that that's an option that's available to him,

00:16both under existing authorities, but primarily if the Senate and the House

00:20can pass legislation that gives them the opportunity to do that.

00:23So we've been engaging with Congress on what that bill would look like.

00:26Obviously, the President needs flexibility on how those sanctions would be applied and when,

00:33because it gives them, you know, maximum leverage in any conversation and negotiation.

00:37So he has talked about that as being a real option, and now obviously we'll,

00:41you know, we've been engaging with the Senate in particular over the last week

00:43on what that bill will look like, and the leaders of both chambers have said

00:49that they're prepared to begin to move forward on that.

00:51We've expressed this to the Russians weeks ago.

00:53We told them that the moment would come where something like this could happen,

00:57and we'll continue to express it because that's the reality.

01:00But has the moment come, or not yet?

01:02Well, I mean, again, that's the President's decision to make.

01:06We are obviously, he's frustrated by the fact that more progress has not been made.