Did Rubio Bungle Summit Talks as Trump Hits Russian Oil with Sanctions?
Oct. 23—Sources close to the White House say that Secretary of State Marco Rubio bungled talks on Oct. 20 with his counterpart, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, regarding preparations for a proposed summit between President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin. The summit, planned for Budapest, Hungary as soon as next week, was put on hold after Rubio mis-briefed the President on Russian intentions.
Following Rubio’s briefing—he is one of the few on Trump’s team advocating a tougher stance against Russia—Trump paused the summit, saying that “it just didn’t feel right.” Backed by Rubio and Treasury Secretary and former Wall Street investment banker Scott Bessant, another war hawk, Trump then announced stiff sanctions on Russia’s two major oil companies, asserting that Putin was not serious about wanting to stop the fighting in Ukraine.
The U.S. Treasury Department stated that Russia’s two largest oil companies, Rosneft and Lukoil, were targeted to damage Moscow’s ability to fund its war machine.
“Now is the time to stop the killing and for an immediate ceasefire,” Bessant said. Oil prices rose more than $2 a barrel following his comments.
White House sources emphasized that the summit with Putin is delayed, not cancelled, and that preparations continue. Russian officials confirmed this, with Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov stating, “The dates haven’t been set yet, but thorough preparation is needed before then, and that takes time.”
These sources also say that Trump has no intention of reversing his publicly stated decision to deny Ukraine and NATO’s Ukrainian leader, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, access to long-range, highly accurate Tomahawk cruise missiles. Trump said yesterday that Ukraine “will never get” the missiles and that it would take them six months or more to learn how to use them. He reiterated his intent to end the war long before that.
Middle East Peace Efforts and Their Ripple Effects
The delay in the Trump-Putin summit has slowed what the President hoped would be “momentum for peace,” building on his success in halting the bloody assault by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin “Bibi” Netanyahu—referred to as the Butcher of Gaza—on Palestinians in the Strip. That peace, and the broader Trump Peace Plan, survived a test when Israel responded to an unverified claim of a Hamas attack near Rafah that killed two Israeli soldiers with a massive bombing strike that killed at least 38 Gazans, including women and children, and wounded hundreds. Netanyahu was told by Trump, through Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, to “cease and desist” and return to ceasefire status.
Witkoff is now on site in the region, along with Presidential son-in-law Jared Kushner, to stabilize the situation and advance discussions on the next phases of the Trump Plan. The plan has already resulted in Hamas releasing all living hostages from its Oct. 7, 2023 massacre attack on Israel, along with most of the remains of deceased hostages, in exchange for Palestinian detainees and long-term prisoners—eventually totaling 2,000.
Rubio’s Role and Strategic Miscommunication
Sources say Witkoff’s deployment to the Middle East complicated efforts to end the war in Ukraine, elevating Rubio’s role despite his inability to grasp or convey diplomatic subtleties to the Russians. This is also true of Rubio’s openly pro-Zelenskyy special envoy, former Lt. General Keith Kellogg.
In his phone conversation with Putin, Trump reportedly believed he had secured agreement on a ceasefire in place, which would cede Russia control over territory it currently holds. Acting on Witkoff’s suggestion, Trump offered that Ukraine would never join NATO and that NATO would halt its expansion toward Russia’s borders. Other components of what would become the Trump Peace Plan were to be negotiated later.
“Trump and Witkoff were prepared to work their ass off to get an agreement stopping NATO expansion,” said a source. “Now here is the complication. Rubio, being a Cuban émigré, whose family was forced out of Cuba by Fidel Castro, is still fighting communist demons. He sees the Russians as the same mythical demons they were in the Cold War. They are still, along with ‘communist’ Chinese, trying to take over the world. In this, he sees himself as the little boy holding his finger in the dike to prevent Europe and the world from being overwhelmed by communist hordes. This makes him incapable, really, of understanding the Russians.
“So, when Witkoff spoke to Lavrov he focused on the ceasefire,” said the source, “without emphasizing any other concessions. He told Lavrov that Trump wanted to come out of the meeting with a ceasefire, or there was no point in having the meeting. That reportedly put Lavrov off. He was not going to bring up the concessions on NATO, since they were offered by Trump. He was not going to ask for anything—it was the Americans who must offer something, and Rubio never offered. So Lavrov merely repeated the Russian position that they viewed a ceasefire as a temporary pause in fighting and they wanted a permanent peace plan, which needed to deal with the root causes of the war. That is key and code for NATO expansion and the Nazi elements in the Ukraine regime. The four eastern oblasts and Crimea were now part of Russia. So, the anti-communist warrior responded by saying that he took that to mean Putin would not agree to the ceasefire in place? Rubio never brought up NATO, except to state that Zelenskyy backed the President’s ceasefire proposal, as did the European members of NATO. Lavrov said he understood this but reminded Rubio that the Russian position had not changed. Yet it had changed last week in the phone call with Trump.”
Summit Prospects and China’s Role
Sources say Lavrov was emphatic that Russia wants improved relations with Trump and that cooperative development deals and new plans for nuclear disarmament could be pursued. But on the ceasefire, Russia was clear.
Rubio briefed Trump that Russia was not prepared to agree to a ceasefire in place, prompting Trump to agree with the Russians that summit plans be suspended.
“The summit and the peace plan for Ukraine can still be rescued,” said the source. “It will require Trump to pull Witkoff from the Middle East and send him to talk to Putin. Then, that could put the summit back on track, and a ceasefire, with concessions on NATO membership and expansion, might become real. Witkoff can come back into this, as Rubio is now headed to the Middle East. The problem is that there is a lot on his and Trump’s plate.”
Keeping the Door Open
Despite visible frustration, Trump is clearly keeping the door open for a deal with Putin, which he said yesterday is the only way to halt the carnage. The Wall Street Journal—referred to as the Wall Street Urinal as a source of NATO leaks—claimed the United States lifted a restriction on Ukraine’s use of ATACMS long-range missiles and air-launched British cruise missiles, enabling deeper strikes into Russia. Trump denied the report in a social media post.
Trump said yesterday he would ask Chinese President Xi Jinping for help when they meet in South Korea next week at the ASEAN summit to secure a peace deal in Ukraine with Putin and Russia. He said the two are close and that he would welcome all the help he can get. Sources report that the Chinese are more than willing to help broker a deal.