Rubio couldn't utter the phrase "Putin is a war criminal"

During a hearing before the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Rubio repeatedly evaded questions from Democratic Congressman Bill Keating.

Senator Keating asked the Secretary of State whether Putin was a war criminal.

What happened there can truly be described as war crimes. But our main goal is to stop the war.

Congressman Keating asked again: is Putin a war criminal?

We cannot end the war without talking to Mr. Putin.

Marco Rubio

US Secretary of State

To which Keating replied that it was quite simple, and asked the same question about Putin several more times.

"This is the person we're negotiating with! I'm trying to answer your question by saying we're trying to end the war," Rubio noted.

As a reminder, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessant previously called Putin a war criminal. And according to him, this is not an obstacle to negotiations.