Rubio on failed cease-fire: ‘The Russians never keep their word’

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) during an interview on Sunday said “the Russians never keep their word,” pointing to a failed cease-fire in Mariupol that was meant to help evacuate citizens from the besieged Ukrainian city.

Rubio emphasized the importance of moving civilians and innocent individuals out of Ukrainian cities that are Russian targets, before taking a shot at Moscow’s integrity.

“Mariupol this morning, an example of how the Russians never keep their word,” Rubio told co-anchor Jake Tapper on CNN’s “State of the Union.”

Ukraine and Russia made another attempt to evacuate civilians from Mariupol on Sunday through a cease-fire, which ultimately failed for the second day in a row. The Mariupol mayor’s office said Russian forces violated the cease-fire with “intense shelling,” according to The New York Times.

Rubio also said on CNN that he is worried that Russia is agreeing to humanitarian corridors as a way to set up false-flag situations and justify its offensive. 

“They’re never gonna allow any of this. And in fact, to the extent they do allow humanitarian corridors, I worry that they’re doing it to set up false flags where they can then attack that and argue that Ukrainians did it,” Rubio said.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine entered its eleventh day on Sunday.

On Saturday, civilian evacuations in Mariupol also stopped after Ukrainian and Russian forces said the other side had violated the cease-fire agreement.