Secretary of State Marco Rubio on hostage deal and Iran, Russia and more
(CBS, KYMA/KECY) - Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke with Margaret Brennan on Face the Nation Sunday about the hostage deal between Israel and Hamas.
"I think we share a common goal. We want to see every hostage released. Frankly, I think, and the President has said this, we want to see them out as soon as we possibly can. And- and certainly, you know, the world has watched these images of people, and it's just heartbreaking to remember that some of them have been now almost two years there. It's a horrifying situation. So we coordinate and work very close with them. We share the goal that every hostage needs to come home, every single one, without delay. Obviously, there are details of how we're pursuing that and coordinating that we're not going to share publicly because we don't want to endanger the hostages and we don't want to endanger this process. But suffice it to say that if it was up to us, every one of these hostages would be home right now, and we want it to happen as soon as possible."
Over the weekend, Rubio made his first trip to Israel, since he became Secretary of State, where he met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and the two men made a joint statement on the future of the Middle East.
They also discussed President Donald Trump's intention to conduct a diplomatic deal with Iran.
"First of all, Israel will always have to act in what they believe is their national interest and their national defense. And so I'm not going to speak about whatever strategies they may have on this or any other topic. I will say that we don't have any outreach from Iran. We haven't seen any, and ultimately, we've seen in the past that efforts that Iran has undertaken diplomatically have been only about how to extend the time frame that, but continue to enrich and rep...and in addition to sponsored terrorism, in addition to build these long range weapons, in addition to sow instability throughout the region. But let's be clear, there's been zero outreach or interest to date from Iran about any negotiated deal. Ideally, yeah, I would love to wake up one day and hear the news that Iran has decided not to pursue a nuclear weapon, not to sponsor terrorism, and re-engage in the world as a normal government. We've had no indication of any of that, not just now, but for 30 years."
During the interview, Brennan and Rubio talked about the war in Ukraine, with Brennan asking Rubio which Russian officials does he expect will be at the meeting, what the focus of the talks will be, and if he believes Russian President Vladimir Putin is ready to negotiate and make concessions, and Rubio said:
"Here's what I know. I know President Trump spoke to Vladimir Putin last week, and in it, Vladimir Putin expressed his interest in peace, and the President expressed his desire to see an end to this conflict in a way that was enduring and that protected Ukrainian sovereignty, and that was an enduring peace, not that we're going to have another invasion in three or four years. That's a good call. Now, obviously it has to be followed up by action, so the next few weeks and days will determine whether it's serious or not. Ultimately, one phone call does not make peace. One phone call does not solve a war as complex as this one. But I can tell you that Donald Trump is the only leader in the world that could potentially begin that process. Other leaders have tried, they have not been able to do so. When he ran in his campaign and he was elected as president, one of his promises was, he would work to bring an end to this conflict in a way that's sustainable and fair. And obviously, you know, this is the first step in that process, but we have a long ways to go. Again, one call doesn't make it, one meeting wouldn't make it...There's a lot of work to be done. But I thought it has...you know, even the longest journey begins with the first step. So we'll see what happens from here, hopefully good things."
Rubio also said, "Nothing's been finalized yet," when asked who he will be meeting with, prompting Brennan to ask if he's going to argue Ukraine's position when he meets his Russian counterpart, to which Rubio responded saying:
"I think...we have to understand is, right now there is no process. What we have right now is a call between Putin and President Trump in which both sides expressed an interest in ending this conflict. I imagine there will be follow up conversations to figure out what a process to talk about that would look like, and then at that point, perhaps we can begin to share more details. So it's a bit premature. I know there's been a lot of reaction to it, because there's been no conversation about it, any serious conversation, but I want to go back to the point I made. President Trump ran, he was very clear, he thinks this war needs to end, and if he sees an opportunity to end it, which is what he's looking for, whether there is an opportunity or not, we're going to pursue it. Ultimately, it will reach a point when you are...if it's real negotiations, and we're not there yet, but if that were to happen, Ukraine will have to be involved, because they're the one that were invaded, and the Europeans will have to be involved because...they have sanctions on Putin and Russia as well, and they've contributed to this effort. We're just not there yet. We really aren't, but hopefully we will be, because we'd all like to see this war end."
Later in the interview, Brennan and Rubio talked about Vice President J.D. Vance's speech during the Security Conference in Munich, Germany, in which the vice president, according to Brennan, "told U.S. allies that the threat he worries about the most is not Russia, it is not China. He called it the 'threat from within,' and he lectured about what he described as censorship, mainly focusing, though, on including more views from the right."
Brennan also said Vance met with "the leader of a far-right party known as the AfD," which is "under investigation and monitoring  by German intelligence because of extremism." This prompted Brennan to ask Rubio what did Vance's speech accomplish, "other than irritating our allies," and Rubio responded saying:
"Why would our allies or anybody be irritated by free speech and by someone giving their opinion? We are, after all, democracies. The Munich Security Conference is largely a conference of democracies in which one of the things that we cherish and value is the ability to speak freely and provide your opinions. And so, I think if anyone's angry about his words, they don't have to agree with him, but to be angry about it, I think actually makes his point. I thought it was actually a pretty historic speech, whether you agree with him or not. I think the valid points he's making to Europe is, we are concerned that the true values that we share, the values that bind us together with Europe, are things like free speech and democracy and our shared history in winning two world wars and defeating Soviet communism and the like. These are the values that we shared in common, and in that cold war we fought against things like censorship and oppression and so forth, and when you see backsliding, and you raise that, that's a very valid concern. We can't tell them how to run their countries. We are...he simply expressed in a speech his view of it, which a lot of people, frankly, share. And I thought he said a lot of things in that speech that needed to be said. And honestly, I don't know why anybody would be upset about it. People are...you know, you don't have to agree on someone's speech. I happen to agree with a lot of what he said, but you don't have to agree with someone's speech to at least appreciate the fact they have a right to say it and that you should listen to it and see whether those criticisms are valid. I assure you, the United States has come under withering criticism on many occasions from many leaders in Europe, and we don't go around throwing temper tantrums about it."
To watch more of Brennan's interview with Rubio, click here.
