Marco Rubio Masterfully Details Circumstances Leading to Oval Office Meeting with Zelenskyy, Shuts Down Kaitlan Collins’ Incompetent Questions
Secretary of State Marco Rubio delivered a masterclass in foreign policy reality during an interview with far-left CNN’s Kaitlan Collins, following the tumultuous Oval Office meeting between President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Rubio detailed how the meeting was supposed to be a turning point for Ukraine, an opportunity to move toward negotiations with Russia.
Instead, Zelenskyy took it in an entirely different direction, aggressively challenging Trump’s peace-first approach and attempting to box the President into an all-or-nothing commitment to endless funding and military intervention.
Marc Rubio: You guys only saw the end. You saw what happened today. You don’t see all the things that led up to this. Let me explain.
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The President has been very clear. He campaigned on this. He thinks this war should have never started. He believes, and I agree, that had he been President, it never would have happened. Now, here we are.
He’s trying to bring an end to this conflict. We’ve explained very clearly what our plan is here, which is we want to get the Russians to a negotiating table. We want to explore whether peace is possible. They understand this.
They also understand that this agreement that was supposed to be signed today was supposed to be an agreement that binds America economically to Ukraine, which to me, as I’ve explained, and I think the President alluded to today, is a security guarantee in its own way because we’re involved. It’s not us, it’s our interests. That was all explained. That was all understood.
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According to Rubio, this meeting could have been avoided had Zelenskyy taken a more cooperative approach rather than insisting on coming to D.C.
Collins predictably refuses to acknowledge the reckless behavior of Zelenskyy, who, instead of seeking a pathway to peace, chose to grandstand and antagonize Trump inside the Oval Office.
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Marc Rubio: But they insisted on coming to D.C. This agreement could have been signed five days ago, but they insisted on coming to Washington. And there was a very, and should have been a very clear understanding: don’t come here and create such a scenario where you’re going to start lecturing us about how diplomacy isn’t going to work.
President Zelenskyy took it in that direction, and it ended in a predictable outcome as a result. It’s unfortunate. That wasn’t supposed to be this way, but that’s the path he chose, and I think, frankly, it sends this country backwards in regards to achieving peace, which is what President Trump wants.
At the end of the day, he wants this war to end. He’s been as consistent as anyone can be about what his objective is here.
Kaitlan Collins: But what specifically do you want to see President Zelenskyy apologize for?
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Marc Rubio: Well, apologize for turning this thing into the fiasco for him that it became. There was no need for him to go in there and become antagonistic. Look, this thing went off the rails. You were there, I believe.
It went off the rails when he said, “Let me ask you a question,” to the Vice President. “What diplomacy are you talking about?” Well, this is a serious thing. I mean, thousands of people have been killed, thousands.
He talks about all these horrible things that have happened to prisoners of war and children. All true, all bad. This is what we’re dealing with here; it needs to come to an end. We are trying to bring it to an end.
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The way you bring it to an end is you get Russia to the table to talk. He understands that attacking Putin, no matter how anyone may feel about him personally, forcing the President into a position where you’re trying to goad him into attacking Putin, calling him names, maximalist demands about Russia having to pay for the reconstruction—all the things that you talk about in a negotiation—when you start talking about that aggressively, and the President’s a dealmaker, he’s made deals his entire life, you’re not going to get people to the table.
Marc Rubio: You start to perceive that maybe Zelensky doesn’t want a peace deal. He says he does, but maybe he doesn’t.
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That active, open undermining of efforts to bring about peace is deeply frustrating for everyone who’s been involved in communications with them leading up to today. I think he should apologize for wasting our time for a meeting that was going to end the way it did.
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https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2025/03/marco-rubio-masterfully-details-circumstances-leading-oval-office/