Joco Today

U.S. Senator Roger Marshall of Kansas appeared on Newsmax’s Finnerty program to discuss the ongoing Russia-Ukraine peace talks in Alaska, which involved Russian President Vladimir Putin and former President Donald Trump.

During the interview, Senator Marshall commented on the lack of progress at the meeting, stating: “Rob, I’m afraid we’re still a little far apart. I think what I saw is President Trump said we wanted a ceasefire. That was not achieved here. So, therefore, the economic conference did not happen. No cease-fire, no economic talks. My hero, President Eisenhower, talked about peace through strength. But what we’re seeing President Trump do here is use tariffs and trade and economics and energy to leverage a peace deal, like he’s done in other countries as well. So I think it’s time.

“I hate to say this, but we need to hope for the best, assume the worst. I think that you’re going to see President double up on the secondary sanctions. I think these demands from Russia are pretty far apart. That doesn’t mean there’s no hope. If anyone can pull a rabbit out of the hat, it will be President Trump. I don’t want to get ahead of him, but this was probably not the meeting that we were hoping would happen.”

Senator Marshall also addressed Russia’s demand that Ukraine return territory to Russian control: “Rob, I think you’re on to something here, that this is a cultural, deep, burning issue that Russia wants to rule the world. Remember, Russia’s economy is the size of Italy’s economy. And the problem here is that Europe has let Russia push them around since World War Two.

“Look, this is, this is Joe Biden’s war. This is Europe’s war. Look, America is willing to help, but Europe needs to take the bull by the horns here and tell Mr. Putin to go fly a kite. This guy is a bloodthirsty war criminal. The is blood on his hands right now. Let’s wait and see what Mr. Putin does here or in the next 72 hours.

“But meanwhile, we need to get ready to launch these sanctions. I know President Trump’s body language pretty well. He said he was going to be unhappy if we didn’t get a ceasefire. There was no ceasefire announced. Now, he gave Russia a little bit of wiggle room, but I bet on that way back, he is like tripling these secondary sanctions, on Brazil, on India, on China as well. I think he’s ready to really double down and put some pressure on Mr. Putin because Putin is not capitulating at all. I want to stay optimistic but I don’t think we made much progress today.”

On potential Senate legislation regarding sanctions against Russia related to its actions in Ukraine and demands during negotiations with Ukraine and Western allies—including proposals currently under discussion—Marshall said: “I think that’s very reasonable that we need to tweak a little bit what’s in that bill. I don’t want an unconditional security guarantee for Ukraine. I didn’t sign up for that. This is Europe’s war; this is Joe Biden's war; I am willing to do our part but we need to tweak the sanction bill that's on the floor right now for discussion.”

The discussions reflect ongoing debates within Congress about how far U.S support should extend in response both diplomatically and economically amid international efforts seeking resolution between Russia and Ukraine.