Five key takeaways from US Secretary of State Rubio’s year-end briefing

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Top diplomat Marco Rubio has laid retired overseas argumentation priorities nether United States President Donald Trump, saying that the medication is focused connected advancing Washington’s interests crossed the world.

In a two-hour briefing to reporters connected Friday, the US caput of authorities reiterated Trump’s hard enactment against Venezuela and defended cuts to overseas assistance programmes.

Maduro cannot beryllium trusted

Rubio suggested that further talks with Venezuela would beryllium futile due to the fact that President Nicolas Maduro cannot beryllium trusted to unrecorded up to his commitments.

“He’s ne'er kept immoderate of the deals he’s made successful the past, which makes it hard to see making 1 successful the future,” Rubio said of Maduro.

The apical US diplomat kept hammering accusations that Maduro has utilized the Venezuelan authorities to pb a run of narcotics trafficking and “terrorism”.

Trump has made akin allegations himself, accusing the Venezuelan president of masterminding a flood of drugs and criminals into the US.

He has besides portrayed Maduro arsenic a cartel leader, successful complaint of groups similar the Venezuelan pack Tren de Aragua. Those assertions, however, person been contradicted by the US quality community, which recovered nary grounds Maduro controls the gang.

On Friday, Rubio said the US is moving with governments successful the Western Hemisphere to guarantee stableness successful the Caribbean region. But Venezuela, helium underscored, is an outlier.

“There’s 1 spot that doesn’t cooperate, and it’s the illegitimate authorities successful Venezuela. Not lone bash they not cooperate with us, they openly cooperate with violent and transgression elements,” helium said.

“For example, they invitation Hezbollah and Iran to run from their territory.”

Trump’s allies person accused Maduro of forging ties with Hezbollah, but the US has not provided grounds that the Lebanese group, which was weakened by past year’s war with Israel, is operating successful the South American country.

Rubio’s comments travel arsenic the US continues to amass troops and subject assets astir Venezuela, raising speculation astir plans to topple Maduro by force.

Trump has besides announced an lipid blockade connected Caracas arsenic helium and his apical aides proceed to falsely assertion that Venezuela’s lipid belongs to the US.

Rubio was asked connected Friday however helium would quadrate Trump’s self-image as a peacemaker with the escalating subject threats to Venezuela.

“We reserve the close — and person the close — to utilise each constituent of nationalist powerfulness to support the nationalist involvement of the United States,” Rubio said. “And nary 1 tin quality that. Every state successful the satellite reserves the aforesaid option. We conscionable simply person much powerfulness than immoderate of them.”

Ukraine ‘not our war’

The ongoing warfare successful Ukraine — which has been raging since Russia’s full-scale penetration successful February 2022 — was besides a cardinal taxable successful Friday’s quality conference.

Rubio explained that the Trump medication is trying to gauge what Russia and Ukraine are capable to judge successful bid to assistance scope a bid deal, but helium emphasised that the struggle is not a apical precedence for Washington.

“It’s not our war. It’s a warfare connected different continent,” helium said.

But Rubio insisted that lone the US tin bring astir a bid statement successful Ukraine.

“What we’re trying to fig retired present is: What tin Ukraine unrecorded with and what tin Russia unrecorded with? Sort of place what some sides’ positions are, and spot if we tin benignant of thrust them towards each different to immoderate agreement,” Rubio said.

“If you were to inquire [for] prioritisation, I would reason that thing in our hemisphere for our nationalist involvement is much important than thing successful different continent,” helium said. “But it doesn’t marque Ukraine and Russia unimportant. We attraction astir it. That’s wherefore we’re progressive successful it.”

While campaigning for re-election successful 2024, Trump had pledged to extremity the Ukraine struggle wrong 24 hours of reclaiming the presidency.

He has since had to locomotion backmost those remarks, but the Republican person has maintained an progressive relation successful bid negotiations, adjacent hosting Russian President Vladimir Putin for an Alaska gathering successful August.

Trump has lobbied to triumph the Nobel Peace Prize for his enactment connected ending satellite conflicts.

US pressing to finalise Gaza signifier one

Rubio besides stressed connected Friday that Washington is pushing to implicit signifier 1 of the truce successful Gaza, truthful the 2nd signifier tin begin.

The 3 elements Rubio highlighted were mounting up a Palestinian technocratic committee to assistance govern Gaza, establishing the foreign-led “Board of Peace”, and deploying an planetary policing unit to the territory.

“This is thing we’re aiming astatine precise soon. It’s what we’re focused connected close present similar a laser,” helium said.

“No 1 is arguing that the presumption quo is sustainable successful the agelong term, nor desirable, and that’s wherefore we person a consciousness of urgency astir bringing signifier 1 to its afloat completion.”

“Once we’ve established that, we person a batch of assurance that we are going to person the donors for the reconstruction effort and for each the humanitarian enactment successful the long-term, gathering of phases 2 and phases three.”

The US is presently hosting talks with officials from Qatar, Egypt and Turkiye to sermon moving to the adjacent stage.

Since the Trump-brokered ceasefire successful October, Israel has killed 395 radical successful Gaza, including an mean of 2 children a day. On Friday, Israeli forces targeted a wedding gathering, sidesplitting astatine slightest six radical and wounding galore others.

Israel has besides refused to let an capable magnitude of assistance into the territory and blocked the introduction of impermanent homes, contempt the information that displaced people’s tents person flooded amid harsh wintertime weather.

Al Jazeera asked Rubio astir Israel’s violations, but the US caput of authorities failed to code the premise of the question. Instead, helium stressed that enactment to guarantee bid successful Gaza is ongoing.

“This is the hard enactment of diplomacy and peacemaking. Peacemaking isn’t conscionable signing a portion of paper; it’s really complying with it,” helium said. “And compliance oftentimes, successful astir cases, requires daily, changeless follow-up and nurturing.”

Cooperation with China

As a senator, Rubio was a China hawk. But connected Friday, helium struck a softer code erstwhile helium spoke astir relations with Beijing, underscoring the request for practice contempt bilateral tensions.

“I deliberation I’ve been bully to China,” Rubio said jokingly. He added that the US has made “good progress” with China.

“If there’s a planetary situation that China and the US tin enactment unneurotic on, I mean, we tin lick it,” helium told reporters. “And there’ll beryllium points of tension. We recognise that our occupation is to equilibrium these 2 things. I deliberation some sides recognize that.”

After an escalating commercialized warfare aboriginal successful Trump’s 2nd term, the US and China reached a one-year deal successful November to frost tariffs and resoluteness different issues.

For astir a decade, US officials person described the planetary contention with Beijing arsenic their astir pressing overseas argumentation issue.

But successful caller months, Trump has turned his attraction to the Americas, appearing to de-prioritise the rivalry with China.

Commitment to NATO

The Trump medication has been blasting Europe and its leaders implicit their migration policies and the regulations of the European Union, but Rubio reasserted the US commitment to NATO subject alliance connected Friday.

He suggested that NATO’s communal defence, arsenic spelled retired successful Article Five of the confederation treaty, would deter immoderate Russian subject run beyond Ukraine.

“It’s wherefore we stay successful NATO,” helium said. “That’s wherefore we’re successful this alliance, and that’s wherefore Article Five successful the NATO confederation is important.”

The lone petition the US has of its chap NATO allies, Rubio added, is that they increase their subject spending.

Trump has sought to rise the minimum defence spending for members of the confederation to 5 percent of each country’s gross home merchandise (GDP), but immoderate countries, astir notably Spain, person pushed for greater flexibility successful their subject budgets.

European allies successful NATO person besides expressed interest astir Trump’s committedness to the subject alliance, citing ambiguous statements helium has made successful the past astir the Article Five commitment. But Rubio sought to enactment those worries to rest.

“We’re committed to the alliance. And our committedness isn’t conscionable rhetorical,” Rubio said. “Our committedness is action, successful the troops that person been deployed and the monies that person been spent and the capabilities that are located successful the cooperation.”

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