We knew a fair amount of the coverage on the Sunday shows would relate to the recent Alaskan summit between President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin and further expectations regarding a potential peace deal between Russia and Ukraine. Keeping up with his many roles in the second Trump administration, Secretary of State Marco Rubio made the rounds on the shows on Sunday morning to discuss the summit and what may come next.
In addition to ABC’s “This Week,” CBS’ “Face the Nation,” and Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures,” Rubio joined Kristen Welker on NBC News’ “Meet the Press” to discuss the summit and what the administration expects going forward.
.@SecRubio: “The best way to end this conflict is through a full peace deal. There’s no doubt about that… What we’re aiming for here is not a ceasefire — what we ultimately are aiming for is an end to this war.” pic.twitter.com/U8vEeFqdBl
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) August 17, 2025
Asked by Welker if a ceasefire is now off the table, Rubio responded:
“No, it’s not off the table. I think what the president said — in fact, you just read it on the air a few moments ago — is it was agreed to by all that the best way to end this conflict is through a full peace deal. There’s no doubt about that. I mean, who would be against the fact – if tomorrow we came to you and said, ‘We have a full peace deal and it’s done,’ I think that’s the best way to end the war. Now, whether there needs to be a ceasefire on the way there? Well, we’ve advocated for that. Unfortunately, the Russians, as of now, have not agreed to that. But the ideal here — what we’re aiming for here — is not a ceasefire. What we ultimately are aiming for is an end to this war.”
Welker then rolled footage of President Trump insisting ahead of the meeting that there would be “very severe consequences for Russia if it didn’t stop the war,” and asked what had changed.
.@SecRubio: “This is not our war. The United States is not in a war. Ukraine is in a war… We happen to be in the role of the only country in the world with the only leader in the world that can actually bring Putin to a table to even discuss these things.” pic.twitter.com/aX9huHe4ha
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) August 17, 2025
Rubio pushed back on the implication that somehow, Russia was being let off the hook.
“Well, first of all, the Russians are already facing very severe consequences. There’s not a single sanction that’s been lifted, not – not one. I mean, they’re facing all the same sanctions that have been in place today. All the American support continues for Ukraine. And, ultimately, look, if we’re not going to be able to reach an agreement here at any point, then there are going to be consequences, not only the consequences of the war continuing, but the consequences of all those sanctions continuing and potentially new sanctions on top of it as well. But what we’re trying to do right now is end a war. And in order to end a war, you’ve got to give every opportunity that exists. You have to – you have to be open to any opportunity that exists to bring it about.
“And here’s the thing to remind everybody – and when the president says this is not our war, but let’s be frank, this is not our war. The United States is not in a war. Ukraine is in a war. And we’ve been supporting Ukraine. We happen to be in the role of the only country in the world with the only leader in the world that can actually bring Putin to a table to even discuss these things. Now, the president has traveled, you know, all the way to Alaska, all the way back, has dedicated months and months of work — him, our entire team — on this matter because we want to see an end to the war. But – but if tomorrow the war continues, life in America will not be fundamentally altered. So I – I think that what we have to understand is that this has been a priority for this president because he wants to promote peace. He wants to promote the end of a war. And I think we should be happy that we have a president that’s trying to promote peace and bring a war to an end.”
RELATED: National Security Analyst: Trump ‘Got What He Needed’ in Alaska
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Welker pressed the idea that Trump has not “punished” Putin for the war since he retook office. Rubio, again, pointed out that all sanctions remain in place against Russia and that in order to negotiate an end to the war, you have to get the parties to the table.
.@SecRubio: “As much as people may not like it, as distasteful as people may find it, the ONLY way to end this war is to get the Russians to agree — as well as the Ukrainians — but the Russians to agree to a peace deal.” pic.twitter.com/djdF2SpEQh
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) August 17, 2025
“Well, again, every single sanction that was in place on the day he took over remain. And every – the impact of all those sanctions remain. You know, when the Russians landed in Alaska, they were there to refuel. They had to offer to pay in cash to refuel their airplanes because they can’t use our banking system. They face consequences every single day.
“But at – the bottom line is that that has not altered the direction of this war. That doesn’t mean those sanctions are inappropriate. It means it hasn’t altered the outcome of it. And here’s what we do think is important, and that is we end this war. To end this war, you have to be able to engage with the Russians. As much as people may not like it, as distasteful as people may find it, the only way to end this war is to get the Russians to agree — as well as the Ukrainians — but the Russians to agree to a peace deal. And the minute you issue new sanctions, your ability to get them to the table — our ability to get them to table — will be severely diminished. That moment may arrive. But when it comes, what you’re basically signaling is, ‘There is no opportunity for peace at this point. So just let’s put on more sanctions and allow more people to get bombed and more people to be killed.’ And that’s what we’re trying to stop.”
Welker then inquired as to what concessions are expected of the Russians in order to secure an agreement.
.@SecRubio: “The only way to reach a deal is for each side to get something and each side to give something — and that’s been very difficult. If it was easy, this wouldn’t have been going on for 3.5 years… That’s why Zelensky is coming tomorrow.” pic.twitter.com/Z5h2tv9wRz
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) August 17, 2025
Rubio noted that that’s the crux of any negotiation — figuring out what each party is willing to give up to get what they want.
“Well, that’s – that’s what these negotiations are about. And as you can imagine, everybody goes into a negotiation wanting 100 percent of what they want. That includes Ukraine, but obviously, the Russians. And the only way to reach a deal on anything — whether it’s in business or in politics or in geopolitics — the only way to reach a deal is for each side to get something and each side to give something. And that’s been very difficult. If it was easy, this wouldn’t have been going on for three and a half years.
“Understand the longer these wars go on, the harder they are to end, unfortunately. Because one side is always looking for leverage on the other, in this particular case, the Russian side as well. And so I think that that’s the core of what we’re trying to work through here. That’s why Zelenskyy’s coming tomorrow. That’s why European leaders are coming tomorrow. That’s why the president called them from the airplane, spent two hours in the middle of the night talking to them. And that’s why we’ve been engaged with them every step of the way, is we are trying to find what can we get to that both sides can agree on. And it’s been difficult. This is a hard issue set. But we’re dedicating a lot of time to it. And the president deserves credit for dedicating time to it.”
As he also noted, not only is Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky coming to the White House tomorrow, but so are other European leaders. What is evident at this point is that the administration is keenly focused on trying to get a peace deal worked out. Whether that ultimately will come to pass remains to be seen. But no one can claim that President Trump and his team haven’t been working hard to bring about such a deal.
President Donald J. Trump speaks by phone with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky aboard Air Force One on Saturday, August 16, 2025.
(Official White House Photo by Daniel Torok) pic.twitter.com/xUTh4U63gz
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) August 17, 2025
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