Rubio Rebukes Trump Claim: 'We Are Not The Same as Putin'

Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla, rebuked President Donald Trump's suggestion, while responding to criticism of government-sanctioned killings in Russia, the United States is not without blame.

Rubio, who is a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, tweeted Sunday "we are not the same" as Russia President Vladimir Putin.

When has a Democratic political activists been poisoned by the GOP, or vice versa? We are not the same as #Putin. MR

— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) February 5, 2017

The tweet came in the wake of Trump's remarks to Fox News' Bill O'Reilly in an interview aired Sunday.

"I do respect him," Trump said of Putin. "Well, I respect a lot of people, but that doesn't mean I'll get along with them."

But when O'Reilly declared, "Putin is a killer," referring to government-sanctioned extrajudicial killing, Trump replied: "There are a lot of killers. We have a lot of killers. You think our country is so innocent?"

In a second tweet Sunday, Rubio also urged keeping sanctions in place against Moscow, particularly because of its "violations of Ukraine sovereignty."

Only reason we should ever lift sanctions on #Putin is if he meets conditions of sanctions & ends violations of #ukraine sovereignty. MR

— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) February 5, 2017

Trump has left open the possibility of easing sanctions against Russia that were drawn up in coordination with the 28-nation EU after Putin annexed the Ukrainian region of Crimea in 2014.

• McConnell: Putin Is a 'Thug', No Equivalency Between US and Russia
• Lindsey Graham: I Won't Be Satisfied If Russia Goes Unpunished