Marco Rubio Can’t Quite Label Putin With 2 Words In Testy Exchange

Secretary of State Marco Rubio got into a testy exchange with a congressman on Wednesday after he repeatedly refused to directly call Russian President Vladimir Putin a war criminal.

It happened during a House hearing when Maryland Democratic Rep. Bill Keating asked Rubio about Putin’s involvement in war crimes against Ukraine.

The hearing comes at a time when the Trump administration is attempting to broker a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine ― despite failing to get Putin to make any move that would lead to that result.

Things got testy after Keating directly asked the secretary of state, “The person we’re negotiating with, Vladimir Putin, is he a war criminal?”

Rubio tried to answer the question without actually answering the question.

“Well, I think you can look at instances that have happened there and certainly characterize them as war crimes, but our intent is to end the war,” Rubio said.

Keating repeated the question.

“Is he a war criminal?”

Rubio evaded the yes-or-no answer Keating was looking for, saying, “We can’t end the war without talking to Mr. Putin.”

Keating, getting frustrated at the lack of a direct response, tried once again.

“Is he a war criminal?” he asked.

Rubio claimed he “was trying to answer your question by telling you that we’re trying to end the war here.”

Keating exclaimed, “You are equivocating, sir, just answer the question!”

“I’m answering your question, and the answer is that war crimes have been committed, no doubt,” Rubio responded in as passive a tone as possible to (possibly) avoid putting Putin into a tizzy. “And who is responsible for that? There will be a time and place for that accountability. But right now, the job is to end the war.”

“So you won’t answer the question,” Keating said.

Here’s a clip of the exchange: