The war that the aggressor country of the Russian Federation unleashed against Ukraine is protracted and carries risks of further escalation. This was stated by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on June 3 during a hearing at the US Congressional Foreign Relations Committee, broadcast by C-SPAN.
During the hearing, Democratic Congressman Jared Moskowitz asked Rubio about why social media algorithms massively promote content about the war in the Gaza Strip, while showing significantly less material about the Russian-Ukrainian war and its consequences. Rubio responded by saying he could not comment on how algorithms work.
“The Russians are losing about 5,000 troops a week, which is a crazy number. It's kind of a stalemate that also carries the risk of escalation as we see deep strikes into Russian territory,” Rubio said.
At the same time, the Secretary of State emphasized the importance of diplomatic channels with Russia. According to him, the United States must maintain dialogue even with countries that have difficult relations with Washington.
“We have to negotiate whether we like what they're doing or not. I've had several conversations with the Foreign Minister [РФ Сергеем] Lavrov. This is mature diplomacy. The same goes for China. There are issues that are not directly related to Ukraine,” Rubio said.
He added that such negotiations are not a concession, but a tool of diplomacy that may or may not lead to immediate changes, but allows for communication between the parties.
