{"id":2404414,"date":"2025-02-19T19:25:02","date_gmt":"2025-02-20T00:25:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/trump-pulls-rubio-and-defense-hawks-toward-russia-in-ukraine-talks-washington-examiner\/"},"modified":"2025-02-19T19:26:16","modified_gmt":"2025-02-20T00:26:16","slug":"trump-pulls-rubio-and-defense-hawks-toward-russia-in-ukraine-talks-washington-examiner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/trump-pulls-rubio-and-defense-hawks-toward-russia-in-ukraine-talks-washington-examiner\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump pulls Rubio and defense hawks toward Russia in Ukraine talks &#8211; Washington Examiner"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">28<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Ftrump-pulls-rubio-and-defense-hawks-toward-russia-in-ukraine-talks-washington-examiner%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2404414&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The article discusses former President Donald Trump&#8217;s \u200brecent shifts \u2064in foreign \u200bpolicy, notably\u2063 regarding Russia and\u2062 Ukraine, and \u200dhow these changes affect Republican lawmakers, including \u2062Secretary \u2064of State \u2064Marco Rubio.\u2062 Following a series of comments that appear to favor \u2063Russia over\u200d Ukraine, Trump&#8217;s stance has prompted a reevaluation among Republicans. Rubio,\u200c who initially opposed Putin\u2064 and supported Ukraine, has now shown a willingness to explore peace negotiations\u2014even under conditions\u2064 that may be deemed\u2063 unfavorable\u2063 to Ukraine.\u200b <\/p>\n<p>Amidst\u2064 these developments,\u200b senators express mixed feelings\u200d about Trump&#8217;s remarks, specifically his labels for \u2062Ukrainian President \u200bVolodymyr\u200c Zelensky. Some Republican senators maintain a critical view of\u2062 Russia, with strong statements against Putin, while others, like Rubio, are \u2062shifting towards a position that\u200c seeks to engage with \u200dMoscow. The article highlights the divisions within the Republican Party as they grapple with navigating their response to the \u200dUkraine crisis and relations \u2064with Russia while trying to maintain a cohesive strategy. <\/p>\n<p>the <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\">changing dynamics\u2063 illustrate<\/a>\u200b a potential shift in U.S. \u2064foreign policy as the \u2062Republican Party \u2064balances \u2064customary\u2063 hawkish views with new conciliatory approaches in the context of \u200dthe ongoing\u2064 conflict in \u200bUkraine.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">Trump pulls Rubio and defense hawks toward Russia in Ukraine talks<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_1998738\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p>President <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/donald-trump\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"Donald Trump\">Donald Trump<\/a> is testing Secretary of State <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/marco-rubio\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"Marco Rubio\">Marco Rubio<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/republican\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"Republican\">Republican<\/a> lawmakers after a series of statements that show the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/section\/news\/white-house\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"White House\">White House<\/a> appears to be dismantling key tenets of U.S. foreign policy, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/world\/3323294\/zelensky-spars-trump-after-blames-ukraine-war\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">siding more with Moscow than Kyiv<\/a>.<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>Secretary of State Marco Rubio has shifted his approach to the war in Ukraine throughout his time in the Senate. In the months following Russia&rsquo;s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Rubio rallied support for Ukraine among the public, calling Russian President Vladimir Putin &ldquo;a killer&rdquo; and questioning his mental health in a post on <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/marcorubio\/status\/1497393912821915648?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1497393912821915648%7Ctwgr%5Ef5593f9e5ab2117388793d29ada632fb407a239d%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.aljazeera.com%2Fnews%2F2024%2F11%2F12%2Fhow-marco-rubio-has-shapeshifted-to-embrace-trumps-foreign-policy\">X<\/a>.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">I wish I could share more,but for now I can say it&rsquo;s pretty obvious to many that something is off with <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Putin?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#Putin<\/a><\/p>\n<p>He has always been a killer,but his problem now is different &amp; significant<\/p>\n<p>It would be a mistake to assume this Putin would react the same way he would have 5 years ago<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/marcorubio\/status\/1497393912821915648?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">February 26, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p> <script data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/cdn-cgi\/scripts\/5c5dd728\/cloudflare-static\/email-decode.min.js\"><\/script><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>    <\/p>\n<p>Rubio had previously been one of Putin&rsquo;s chief critics in Washington, accusing him of perpetrating war crimes and killing political opponents. Rubio <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2018\/07\/22\/politics\/marco-rubio-trump-putin-cnntv\/index.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">had previously warned<\/a> Trump during his first term to be &ldquo;clear-eyed about who Putin is&rdquo; ahead of a meeting of the two leaders in 2018.<\/p>\n<p>However, his <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/negative-yielding-corporate-bonds-go-extinct\/\" title=\"Negative Yielding Corporate Bonds Go Extinct\">hawkish comments<\/a> in the past have transitioned into a tendency toward seeking a peace settlement to end the war even on terms that are unfavorable to Ukraine. A year ago, he abruptly reversed his previous support for Ukraine aid and was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/2852838\/senate-passes-ukraine-aid-marathon-filibuster-conservatives\/\">one of 29 senators who voted against<\/a> an aid package to Ukraine, claiming the aid came at the price of enforcement efforts along the U.S. southern border.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Rubio started working toward ending the war in Ukraine, meeting with his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, and other senior Russian and U.S. officials on Tuesday, the first high-level communication between Washington and Moscow since the war began. Ukrainian officials were notably absent from the conversation.<\/p>\n<p>The former Florida senator said Tuesday that ending the war in Ukraine could &ldquo;unlock the door&rdquo; for &ldquo;incredible opportunities&rdquo; to work with Russia on issues &ldquo;that hopefully will be good for the world and also improve our relations in the long term.&rdquo; The comments signaled a major reversal after years in which the Biden administration led efforts to isolate Moscow.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Senate Republicans are signaling they are willing to give Trump and Rubio some leeway in their efforts to end the war in Ukraine, despite some distancing themselves from Trump&rsquo;s comments openly disparaging Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and echoing Russia&rsquo;s calls for new Ukrainian elections.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;There&rsquo;s probably a lot of good cop, bad cop probably going on, I don&rsquo;t know. I don&rsquo;t know some of the strategic reasons for some of the comments, but I imagine Marco is making a lot of phone calls,&rdquo; said Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-ND), speaking to the <em>Washington Examiner <\/em>on Wednesday.<\/p>\n<p>A handful of Republican senators on Wednesday sounded off after Trump called Zelensky &ldquo;a Dictator without Elections&rdquo; and blamed him for starting the war with Russia. Trump&rsquo;s deferential treatment of Putin has made things uncomfortable for Republican defense hawks.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I was a little surprised at one of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/trump-taking-regeneron-drug-remdesivir-therapy-for-coronavirus-diagnosis-ex-wh-doctor-explains\/\" title=\"Trump taking Regeneron drug, Remdesivir therapy for coronavirus diagnosis: ex-WH doctor explains\">president&#038;rsquo<\/a>;s comments,&rdquo; Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said of calling Zelensky a dictator. &ldquo;I wouldn&rsquo;t use the same word.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC), who recently traveled to Ukraine, also said he would not use the word dictator to describe Zelensky.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Make no mistake about it. That invasion was the responsibility of one human being on the face of this planet. It was Vladimir Putin in a calculation to go through Ukraine and not stop there, to go through Moldova, to go through the Balkans, to ultimately go to the Baltic states, and send the signal to China that now is the time that they can take action in the South China Sea,&rdquo; Tillis told reporters. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s what this is about, and that&rsquo;s what we as members have to communicate,&rdquo; he said.<\/p>\n<p>Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Roger Wicker (R-MS) called Putin &ldquo;a war criminal who should be in jail for the rest of his life, if not executed.&rdquo; Wicker, who has long opposed the idea of negotiating with the Russian president, said Putin should not be trusted in any negotiation.<\/p>\n<p>At a meeting with Senate Republicans to discuss the budget on Wednesday afternoon, Vice President JD Vance touched on Trump&rsquo;s Zelensky comments and acknowledged the differences in opinion on the topic within the conference, according to a source familiar with discussions. Sen. Jim Risch (R-ID), the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, was the only senator to speak and said Republicans need to be &ldquo;on the same page.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;We have not settled, we&rsquo;re still figuring out how to settle,&rdquo; said Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA), coming out of the meeting, responding to a question from the <em>Washington Examiner <\/em>about how to end the war in Ukraine.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Here&rsquo;s where I disagree with the White House: To the extent that the White House said that Ukraine started the war, I disagree. I think Vladimir Putin started the war,&rdquo; Kennedy said to reporters Wednesday. &ldquo;I also believe, through bitter experience, that Vladimir Putin is a gangster.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Following the meeting, some Republican senators expressed their concern about a deal that favors Russia and didn&rsquo;t want any negotiation to be seen as a victory.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I think many of the members would like to see this war end but we also think that Ukrainian leaders and European leaders should be at the table,&rdquo; said a Senate GOP aide familiar with discussions. &ldquo;We cannot reward Russia in any way for invading Ukraine and starting this war.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>A year ago, now-Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) and 21 of his Republican colleagues voted to send $60 billion in U.S. aid to Ukraine, defying then-candidate Trump&rsquo;s wishes.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;America cannot retreat from the world stage,&rdquo; the South Dakota senator said, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/newshour\/show\/sen-john-thune-on-the-2024-race-gop-leadership-and-funding-for-ukraine\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">explaining his vote<\/a> at the time. &ldquo;American leadership is desperately needed now more than I think any time in recent history, and we need to make sure that Ukraine has the weaponry and the resources that it needs to defeat the Russians.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>For now, Thune made it clear that he&rsquo;s willing to give Trump and his team &ldquo;some space.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I think what I&rsquo;m in support of is a peaceful outcome and result in Ukraine. And I think right now, the administration, the President and his team, are working to achieve that, I think right now you got to give them some space,&rdquo; Thune said, speaking to reporters during his weekly press conference on Wednesday.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The Senate Republican leader sidestepped a question asking him to weigh in on Trump&rsquo;s most recent comments.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The president speaks for himself, what I want to see is a peaceful result, a peaceful outcome. And I think right now, there&rsquo;s a negotiation going on and let&rsquo;s see where that ultimately leads,&rdquo; Thune added.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) said Trump was right to call out Zelensky for postponing elections in Ukraine &mdash; elections that were supposed to happen in spring 2024 but were delayed due to the war.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;[Trump] said he hasn&rsquo;t held an election in six years or whatever it&rsquo;s been, which is correct. [Zelensky] hasn&rsquo;t; he should hold an election,&rdquo; Hawley said, speaking to reporters. &ldquo;We held elections during World War II, Britain held elections during World War II &mdash; if they&rsquo;re a democracy, they should hold elections.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p><em>David Sivak contributed to this report.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p> <script>!function(){var g=window;g.googletag=g.googletag||{},g.googletag.cmd=g.googletag.cmd||[],g.googletag.cmd.push(function(){g.googletag.pubads().setTargeting(\"has-featured-video\",\"true\")})}();<\/script><script>var _bp=_bp||[];_bp.push({\"div\":\"Brid_1998738\",\"obj\":{\"id\":\"27789\",\"width\":\"1280\",\"height\":\"720\",\"stickyDirection\":\"below\",\"video\":\"1998738\"}});<\/script><script defer src=\"https:\/\/services.brid.tv\/player\/build\/brid.min.js\"><\/script><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Trump shifts Rubio and GOP hawks&#8217; stance on Ukraine, favoring Russia<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3527,"featured_media":2404415,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Marco-Rubio-trip-UAE-scaled-1024x683.webp","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[50699,5438,4280,3634,6991],"class_list":["post-2404414","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-defense-hawks","tag-rubio","tag-russia","tag-trump","tag-ukraine"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Marco-Rubio-trip-UAE-scaled-1024x683.webp","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2404414","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3527"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2404414"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2404414\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2404418,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2404414\/revisions\/2404418"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2404415"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2404414"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2404414"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2404414"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}