Secretary of State Marco Rubio slammed Politico late Wednesday evening, demanding a retraction of a story centered on Russia and Ukraine. The headline in question read “White House debates lifting sanctions on Russian energy assets, Nord Stream,” with a subheading touting conflict between Rubio and administration official Steve Witkoff. 

Lifting the sanctions currently in place on one of Russia’s main pipelines connecting its natural gas fields to western Europe would be a sharp reversal in the U.S. policy first put in place during President Donald Trump’s first term.President Joe Biden waived those sanctions early in his term, but reimposed them after Russian President Vladimir Putin launched the invasion of Ukraine in 2022.                                                   

In a post on social media, the secretary of state lambasted the report, calling it “unequivocally false” and stating that he hasn’t had any conversations with Witkoff about lifting sanctions as part of a deal to end the war in Ukraine.