Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff issued a joint statement Wednesday blasting a Politico report that claimed the Trump administration is considering lifting sanctions against Russia.
“This is false,” Rubio and Witkoff said in their statement. “Neither of us have had any conversations about lifting sanctions on Russia as part of a peace deal with Ukraine. This is just totally fictitious and irresponsible reporting from Politico, a fifth-rate publication. If they have an ounce of journalistic integrity they will fully retract this piece of fiction.”
The Politico article, published Wednesday, claimed that Witkoff has been advocating for removing sanctions on Russia’s energy interests, including the Nord Stream 2 pipeline project.
The outlet cited anonymous sources — “five people familiar with the discussions” — and claimed Witkoff had instructed his staff to compile a comprehensive list of U.S. sanctions against Russian energy interests.
According to Politico, while Witkoff had “raised the idea of lifting energy-related sanctions, the idea so far has not found much traction in the White House and that Rubio has tried to derail it.”
The article also claimed, without evidence, that Witkoff “has said he has developed a friendship with Putin in his role as Trump’s envoy to Moscow.”
The Nord Stream 2 pipeline, designed to transport natural gas from Russia to Germany beneath the Baltic Sea, has been a focus of U.S. sanctions policy across multiple administrations. During Trump’s first term, he signed legislation in 2019 imposing sanctions on any firm helping Russia complete the pipeline.
The Biden administration initially lifted some sanctions in May 2021, allowing construction to resume, but later reversed course in February 2022 following Russia’s military buildup near Ukraine, reinstating sanctions as Germany also froze certification of the project.
The Nord Stream 2 pipelines remains operational despite a 2022 explosion that damaged one line and both pipelines of the companion Nord Stream 1 system. The cause of the explosion remains under investigation, with some reports suggesting possible involvement of Ukrainian military forces.
Politico has not yet responded to the demand for a retraction from Rubio and Witkoff, the latest in a serious of ongoing attacks by the media against the Trump administration’s policy towards Russia since taking office in January.