Sen. Marco Rubio. | AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee Rubio clashes with Trump’s Russia rhetoric

TALLAHASSEE — Senator Marco Rubio put more distance between himself and President-elect Donald Trump when he criticized Russian President Vladimir Putin in a statement late Thursday welcoming President Obama’s newly released sanctions.

“From his repression of the Russian people and the assassination of his critics, to his dangerous invasion of Ukraine and occupation of Crimea, to his threats against our NATO allies in Central and Eastern Europe, to the war crimes committed by Russian forces and their Syrian and Iranian allies in Aleppo, Putin’s Russia is a threat to global stability,” Rubio said in a statement released late Thursday.


The statement was critical of Obama, calling the sanctions "long overdue” following "years of weakness that have invited and encouraged Russian aggression.”

But it also clashed sharply with Trump’s consistently positive outlook on Putin and the Russian Federation.

While Trump released a statement following the White House announcement saying it's time "to move on” from claims of election interference from Kremlin-backed groups, Rubio accused Putin of "becoming so emboldened" as to try to "undermine American democracy by meddling in our election.”

Trump has expressed skepticism of the widely accepted consensus from U.S. intelligence agencies that Russia meddled in the U.S. presidential election with cyber intrusions against the Democratic National Committee and Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta’s personal email account. But he said he does plan to "meet with leaders of the intelligence community next week in order to be updated on the facts of this situation.”

It’s not the first time Rubio, a member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, has clashed with Trump when it comes to foreign policy.

During his Senate reelection campaign, Rubio expressed disagreement with Trump’s suggestion that the United States shouldn't automatically come to the defense of fellow NATO members if they are attacked. And earlier this month, Rubio introduced the Preventing Destabilization of Iraq and Syria Act, legislation that would mandate sanctions aimed at Russian and Iranian officials who participate in destabilizing the two countries.

Obama’s eleventh-hour Russia sanctions present a test for many congressional Republicans, who are torn between decades-old GOP principles and their new standard-bearer's unusual embrace of Putin.

Nolan D. McCaskill and Austin Wright contributed reporting.

