Rubio takes flak for Trump admin's Russia stance, a sharp contrast from his hawkish history

The Trump administration has made overtures to a country that Rubio has railed against during most of his career, especially in relation to Russia's backing of countries like Cuba.

MIAMI — President Donald Trump’s threats of tariffs and sanctions to Russia as leverage to negotiate a ceasefire with Ukraine may be a welcome pivot that draws some attention away from the administration’s recent support for Russian President Vladimir Putin.

It may also move the focus away from the flak that Secretary of State Marco Rubio — known for his hard-line policies against Russia and its backing of communist and socialist countries such as Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua — has been taking as the country’s top diplomat. 

After Trump and Vice President JD Vance excoriated Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a heated televised exchange from the Oval Office, and following Trump’s assertions that Ukraine — not Russia — started the war, the Cuban American secretary of state has been criticized by Americans who condemn Putin’s invasion of Ukraine as well as Russia’s longstanding involvement with some Latin American countries. 

One letter to the editor in the Miami Herald, his hometown newspaper, questioned how Rubio can “sleep at night" now that he’s “anxious to partner with Russia, which recently sent oil to Havana to keep that socialist state’s engine running.” Another letter lambasted Rubio for “sitting in the Oval Office as his tangerine-tinted Caudillo (strongman) paid tribute to and openly embraced Russian President Vladimir Putin. Fidel Castro once did the same with Nikita Kruschev in 1961.”

Asked for comment, the State Department referred NBC News to recent remarks Rubio made on ABC News, Fox News and CNN, in which he’s insisted that Trump’s goal is to get Russia and Ukraine to negotiate a peace agreement and an end to a war that has gone on for three years and cost thousands of civilian lives. 

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/rubio-takes-flak-trump-russia-stance-rcna194798

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