Washington.- US Secretary of State Marco Rubio was concerned that an “escalation” would occur in Russia’s war in Ukraine, after Ukrainian drones hit energy and military sites in the city of Saint Petersburg.
“What has changed in recent months is that Ukraine has become more efficient at carrying out long-range attacks inside Russia (…) And it seems to me that is one of the things that reminds us of the importance of trying to end this war, if we can, because the risk of escalation is real, much more real than two years ago,” Rubio declared before a parliamentary committee this Wednesday.
It is the first reaction from the United States after the reciprocal attacks by Russia and Ukraine in recent days.
On Tuesday, a massive attack with Russian drones and missiles caused 23 deaths in kyiv and the industrial city of Dnipro, in east-central Ukraine.
“At this point, neither side has been willing to make the concessions necessary to restore peace, particularly on the Russian side,” Rubio said, stating that the United States remained “willing to play any possible role in this context to restore peace.”
Speaking before another committee on Wednesday morning, he admitted that “the outlook did not look very good in terms of the willingness of one side or the other to make the concessions necessary to reach an agreement.”
Washington has held a series of negotiations with the Ukrainians and Russians that are at an impasse.
Washington established this temporary exemption of Russian oil from US sanctions in March to try to moderate the rise in oil prices after the war in the Middle East.
That exemption has already been extended several times.
The US sanctions were aimed at cutting off Russian oil revenues and, therefore, this source of financing for Moscow’s war in Ukraine.
