US Secretary of State Marco Rubio was in Shannon on Wednesday, on his way back to America, after talks with Ukraine which were held in Saudi Arabia.
Asked if he would be prepared to apply pressure on Russia if it will not agree to a ceasefire, he said that the new administration has not sided with the Kremlin.
“To be clear as far as I am aware the United States has not provided armaments to Russia, the United States has not provided assistance to Russia. Every single sanction that has been imposed on Russia remains in place, every single sanction the president inherited has remained in place.”
He also said it was too early to talk about what would follow if Russia comes out against a ceasefire.
“We don’t think its constructive for me to stand here today and to issue threats about what we’re going to do if Russia says no. Let’s hope they say yes. I remind everyone and bring you back to the point; the President’s desire here is to bring about a lasting and enduring peace in Ukraine. He wants the shooting and the fighting to stop; not just for 30 days, not just for 60 days, but permanently.
“To do that both sides have to come to the table. We are happy that the Ukrainians have agreed to do so. Now it is up to Russia to say yes.
“If Russia says yes that’s very good news and we will begin that process and do everything we can to move that process forward. If they say no then obviously we’ll have to examine everything, figure out where we stand in the world and what their true intentions are.
“If they say no it’ll tell us a lot about what their goals are and what their mindset is. But I don’t want to go into that before they’ve even answered us.”
He said Russia had voiced some willingness to end the three year war.
“They expressed a willingness under the right circumstances, which they did not define, to bring an end to this conflict. So we have Ukraine ready to come to the table, now we need to get Russia to come to the table. If they do and the shooting stops, I think that’s a very good day in the world.
“No one is pretending that the negotiation is going to be easy, fast or simple, but at least we’ve gotten to that point. If their answer is no, we’ll have to deal with that and at that point make decisions on that basis. We’re not there yet, hopefully the answer is yes.”
At Shannon he also defended certain tariffs introduced by Trump since taking office.
“He has imposed steel and aluminum tariffs on virtually the entire world and the reason why is not to punish those countries, it’s because he has outlined the need to build domestic capabilities.
“ If you don’t have steel and aluminum, you can’t build warships, you can’t build airplanes, you’re not an industrial economy.”
He said America is just acting in its own interests.
“Every country in the world we expect will act in their national interest. The United States forgot that. President Trump is reminding us of that and bringing us back to that.”
Owen Ryan has been a journalist with the Clare Champion since 2007, having previously worked with a number of other publications in Limerick, Cork and Galway. His first book will be published in December 2024.