"We would still like to meet with the Russians": the US is open to negotiations with the Russian Federation despite the sanctions, Rubio

He noted that he already had a productive conversation with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and plans to continue the discussion. "We would still like to meet with the Russians . . . I had a good conversation with Foreign Minister Lavrov and we will continue that discussion. We will always be interested in working together if there is an opportunity to achieve peace," Rubio told reporters.

Rubio also explained that President Trump had been considering sanctions in recent months and was prepared to take action if there was no progress in peace talks. "I think the president has said repeatedly over several months that at some point he's going to have to do something if we don't make progress on a peace deal. Today he decided to do something," Rubio said.

Before that, Donald Trump imposed sanctions on two of Russia's largest oil companies, telling reporters that he believed the time had come for such a move and that he had expected it for a long time. It will be recalled that on the evening of October 16, US President Donald Trump had a telephone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

According to its results, the American leader announced that he plans to meet with the Russian president in Budapest, the capital of Hungary, to discuss the end of the war. Moreover, Hungary promised to provide the necessary conditions for the meeting, actually agreeing to receive Vladimir Putin, despite the existence of an International Criminal Court warrant for his arrest. Subsequently, the planning of a meeting between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin in Budapest was temporarily suspended.