Rubio called the people of Ukraine inspiring even as they continue to face an ongoing invasion.
For weeks, the Russian army has been massing on the Ukrainian border, and this week, they invaded.
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Photos: Russian forces push toward Kyiv, Ukraine Natali Sevriukova reacts next to her house following a rocket attack the city of Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, Feb. 25, 2022. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
Photos: Russian forces push toward Kyiv, Ukraine People look at the damage following a rocket attack the city of Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, Feb. 25, 2022. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
Photos: Russian forces push toward Kyiv, Ukraine A man inspects the damage at a building following a rocket attack on the city of Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, Feb. 25, 2022. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
Photos: Russian forces push toward Kyiv, Ukraine Firefighters try to extinguish a blaze at a damaged residential building at Koshytsa Street, a suburb of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, early Friday, the second day of Russia's military intervention on February 25, 2022. (Ukraine Emergency Ministry/Handout/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Photos: Russian forces push toward Kyiv, Ukraine People take shelter at a building basement while the sirens sound announcing new attacks in the city of Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, Feb. 25, 2022. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
Photos: Russian forces push toward Kyiv, Ukraine People hide in a bomb shelter in Kyiv in the early hours of February 25, 2022. (SERGEI CHUZAVKOV/AFP via Getty Images)
Photos: Russian forces push toward Kyiv, Ukraine This video still provided Feb. 25, 2022, shows Ukrainian border guards who were serving at Chongar crossing point on the Russian-Ukrainian border and have laid down their arms. (FSB\TASS via Getty Images)
Photos: Russian forces push toward Kyiv, Ukraine A man inspects the damage at a building following a rocket attack on the city of Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, Feb. 25, 2022. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
Photos: Russian forces push toward Kyiv, Ukraine View of a building damaged following a rocket attack the city of Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, Feb. 25, 2022. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
Russia attack A damaged car is seen from a hole of a damaged apartment building following a rocket attack on the city of Mariupol, Ukraine, Friday, Feb. 25, 2022. Russian troops are bearing down on Ukraine's capital, with gunfire and explosions resonating ever closer to the government quarter. The invasion of a democratic country has fueled fears of wider war in Europe and triggered worldwide efforts to make Russia stop. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka) (Evgeniy Maloletka/AP)
Russia attack People fleeing the conflict from neighboring Ukraine meet with members of their family at the border crossing in Medyka, southeastern Poland, on Friday, Feb. 25, 2022. U.N. officials said that 100,000 people were believed to have left their homes and estimated up to 4 million could flee if the fighting escalates. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski) (Czarek Sokolowski/AP)
Russia attack People take photos of still smoldering destroyed Russian military vehicles on the outskirts of Kharkiv, Ukraine, Friday, Feb. 25, 2022. Russian troops bore down on Ukraine's capital Friday, with gunfire and explosions resonating ever closer to the government quarter, in an invasion of a democratic country that has fueled fears of wider war in Europe and triggered worldwide efforts to make Russia stop. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda) (VADIM GHIRDA/AP)
Russia attack A Ukrainian servicemen opens the door of a deactivated Russian military multiple rocket launcher on the outskirts of Kharkiv, Ukraine, Friday, Feb. 25, 2022. Russian troops bore down on Ukraine's capital Friday, with gunfire and explosions resonating ever closer to the government quarter, in an invasion of a democratic country that has fueled fears of wider war in Europe and triggered worldwide efforts to make Russia stop. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda) (VADIM GHIRDA/AP)
Russia attack People rest in the Kyiv subway, using it as a shelter in Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, Feb. 25, 2022. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky) (Efrem Lukatsky/AP)
Russia attack People sleep in the Kyiv subway, using it as a bomb shelter in Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, Feb. 25, 2022. In Ukraine's capital, many residents hurried underground for safety overnight Thursday and Friday as Russian forces fired on the city and moved closer. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti) (Emilio Morenatti/AP)
Russia attack A family sit in the Kyiv subway, using it as a bomb shelter in Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, Feb. 25, 2022. In Ukraine's capital, many residents hurried underground for safety overnight Thursday and Friday as Russian forces fired on the city and moved closer. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti) (Emilio Morenatti/AP)
Russia attack A couple stand and embrace during a gathering in St. Petersburg, Russia, Friday, Feb. 25, 2022. Shocked Russians turned out by the thousands Thursday to decry their country's invasion of Ukraine as emotional calls for protests grew on social media. Some 1,745 people in 54 Russian cities were detained, at least 957 of them in Moscow. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky) (Dmitri Lovetsky/AP)
Russia attack A man takes a photo of a damaged school building in Horlivka, eastern Ukraine, Friday, Feb. 25, 2022, following Ukrainian shelling in the territory controlled by pro-Russian militants. The Russian military is pressing its invasion of Ukraine to the outskirts of the capital. The advancement came after Russia unleashed airstrikes on cities and military bases and sent in troops and tanks from three sides in an attack that could rewrite the global post-Cold War security order. (AP Photo/Alexei Alexandrov) (Alexei Alexandrov/AP)
Russia attack Two women sweep up broken glass at a school building in Horlivka, following Ukrainian shelling in the territory controlled by pro-Russian militants, eastern Ukraine, Friday, Feb. 25, 2022. The Russian military is pressing its invasion of Ukraine to the outskirts of the capital. The advancement came after Russia unleashed airstrikes on cities and military bases and sent in troops and tanks from three sides in an attack that could rewrite the global post-Cold War security order. (AP Photo/Alexei Alexandrov) (Alexei Alexandrov/AP)
Russia attack People run to take shelter while the sirens sound announcing new attacks in the city of Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, Feb. 25, 2022. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti) (Emilio Morenatti/AP)
Russia attack Demonstrators shout slogans in St. Petersburg, Russia, Friday, Feb. 25, 2022. Shocked Russians turned out by the thousands Thursday to decry their country's invasion of Ukraine as emotional calls for protests grew on social media. Some 1,745 people in 54 Russian cities were detained, at least 957 of them in Moscow. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky) (Dmitri Lovetsky/AP)
“Putin’s endgame first and foremost at every turn is to try and recreate, not the Soviet Union, but the Russian empire,” Rubio said.
Rubio, who sits on the Intelligence and Foreign Relations Committees, called this move by Vladimir Putin and Russia part of a long-term plan.
“He views the 90s as a decade of humiliation for Russia,” Rubio said. “He believes himself to be the leader that will restore Russia as a great power.”
That means taking Ukraine by force, gaining access to its ports and vast fields of natural gas resources.
Not a political move, but one of attempting to reassert Russia’s influence on the national stage.
“Not sure he wants to return to the communist era from an economic standpoint because then you don’t have oligarchs and great wealth accumulation,” Rubio said. “But he wants Russia to be a great global power, and he believes great global powers have spheres of influence and satellite states. And that’s what he intends to do, and Ukraine is a key component of it.”
See more in the video above.
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