Marco Rubio

Secretary of State Marco Rubio refused to provide a straight answer when asked if Russian President Vladimir Putin was a war criminal while testifying before the Senate.

Rubio appeared before the upper house of Congress during a hearing on Tuesday, where he was questioned on a variety of the Trump administration's policies.

During the hearing, Democratic Rep. Bill Keating questioned Rubio on the Trump administration's approach to the Kremlin and President Vladimir Putin.

"Personally negotiating with Vladimir Putin, is he a war criminal?" asked Keating.

"I think you can look at instances that have happened there and certainly characterize them as war crimes, but our intent is to end the war," Rubio replied.

"But is he a war criminal?" Keating asked again.

"We can't end the war without talking to Mr. Putin," Rubio remarked.

"This man we're negotiating with, Vladimir Putin, is he a war criminal? That's not tough," Keating pressed.

"I'm trying to answer your question by telling you we're trying to end the war here. It's not a simple answer. War crimes, have been committed, no doubt, and who is responsible for that? There will be a time and a place for that accountability. But right now, the job is to end the war," Rubio continued.

Keating then turned the tables on Rubio, drawing from the Secretary's past to further make his point.

"You're sitting in front of us now as Secretary of State. It wasn't long ago that you were sitting as a Senator, with Secretary of State nominee Rex Tillerson at the time, in the exact same circumstances only reversed, and you questioned him about Putin directing attacks against schools, markets, hospitals, playgrounds," Keating said. "On top of this in this instance, he's abducted 20,000 children, a clear war crime. So you were very clear then, Vladimir Putin was a war criminal, now I'm making him a war criminal and you won't answer my question."

President Donald Trump shocked many when he began to speak of Putin favorably after he and Vice President J.D. Vance berated Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during the latter's visit to the White House in February. In fact, Trump and Putin shared a phone call earlier this week, after which Trump referred to the Russian President as a "nice gentleman."

"The tone and spirit of the conversation were excellent," Trump said.

Originally published on Latin Times

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