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Rubio warns about ‘additional consequence’ to Russia if no deal on Ukraine is reached

"But we're trying to avoid that by reaching a peace agreement. And that's not going to be easy. It's going to take a lot of work," the US Secretary of State added

NEW YORK, August 17. /TASS/. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has warned Russia about additional consequences if efforts toward settling the Ukrainian conflict fail.

When asked by an ABC News host whether US President Donald Trump has changed his mind concerning anti-Russian sanctions, he said, "I don't think his mind has changed at all. I think ultimately, if this whole effort doesn't work out, then there is going to have to be additional consequences to Russia."

"But we're trying to avoid that by reaching a peace agreement. And that's not going to be easy. It's going to take a lot of work," he added.

On August 15, a meeting between Russian and US Presidents Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump took place at a military base in Alaska. The rendezvous lasted about three hours: there was a one-on-one discussion in the American leader's limousine on the way to the main venue for the talks and a narrow "three-on-three" meeting. The Russian side was also represented by Presidential aide Yury Ushakov and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, while the American side was represented by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff.

In a statement to the press following the talks, Putin said that the settlement of the Ukrainian conflict was the main topic of the summit. The Russian leader also called for turning the page in bilateral relations and returning to cooperation, and invited Trump to Moscow. For his part, the US president announced the progress made in the talks, but noted that the parties had not managed to reach agreement.

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