Rubio reveals when Trump will decide on secondary sanctions against Russia

Rubio made the announcement during an appearance on Fox Business Network, according to a statement released by the State Department.

"That’s a decision the President will need to make here over the next 24 to 36 hours," Rubio said. "A lot of it’ll depend on how talks – the works we’re going to be doing over the next couple of days, progress.  And then, ultimately, it’ll be the President’s call in terms of whether he still thinks sanctions need to go in place or not in place pending this thing being moved forward on."

He added that U.S. officials are working intensively to bring the positions of Russia and Ukraine closer together.

"We’re going to be doing a lot of work today and tomorrow to see how close we can bring the two sides, and then present that to the President and let him make a decision," Rubio explained.

"So I don’t want to prejudge that.  I don’t think we’re at a stage yet where the President has to make that decision.  He’ll have to make that decision by Friday," he concluded.

Earlier, in a comment to Reuters, a White House official said that the meeting between Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and Russian leader Vladimir Putin in Moscow went well, but Washington still intends to sanction the Kremlin.

• On Wednesday, August 6, U.S. President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff arrived in Moscow and met with Russian leader Vladimir Putin. Their meeting reportedly lasted around three hours. Trump later called the talks productive.
• That same day, Presidents of Ukraine and the U.S., Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Donald Trump, held a phone conversation.