Marco Rubio refused to call Vladimir Putin a “war criminal,” despite grilling former secretary of state Rex Tillerson over the same issue in 2017.

At a House Committee on foreign affairs session on Wednesday, the current secretary of state dodged questions on Putin, though admitted there had been “war crimes” in the war.

Newsweek contacted the Department of State by website form to comment on this story.

Why It Matters

Putin invaded Ukraine in February 2022. One of President Donald Trump‘s pledges during his campaign to office was to end the war in Ukraine within 24 hours of taking office but the administration has struggled to do so and on Tuesday, Trump and Putin had a two-hour phone conversation that did not result in a peace deal.

On Wednesday, it was reported that Trump told his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky that Russia and Ukraine must independently end the war.

What To Know

During the hearing, Democratic Representative Bill Keating asked Rubio if he thought Putin was a war criminal.

“I think you can look at instances that have happened there and certainly characterize them as war crimes but our intent is to end the war,” Rubio responded.

Keating asked again: “Is he a war criminal?”

Rubio said: “We can’t end the war without talking to Mr. Putin.”

When Keating pressed him again and accused Rubio of “equivocating,” Rubio said: “I’m answering your question and the answer is war crimes have been committed no doubt and who is responsible for that, there will be a time and place for that accountability.”

As a Florida Senator in 2017, Rubio grilled Tillerson during his confirmation hearing for secretary of state on the same issue.

When Tillerson said he would “not use that term,” Rubio spoke about Syria and said: “It should not be hard to say that Vladimir Putin’s military has conducted war crimes in Aleppo because it is never acceptable, you would agree, for a military to specifically target civilians, which is what’s happened there through the Russian military.”

What People Are Saying

The group Republicans against Trump said on X that Rubio refusing to call Putin a war criminal was “shameful.”

During the hearing, Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen said: “What Vladimir Putin is doing now is playing for time and he’s playing the president like a fiddle.”

What Happens Next

Rubio said on Sunday that the Trump administration expects to figure out “pretty soon” if Russia is “tapping us along” when it comes to peace talks.

During the hearing, he said the U.S. will impose more sanctions on Russia if efforts to reach a peace deal stall.”