NBC’s David Gregory pressed Secretary of State John Kerry on the status of the U.S.-Russia "reset" during an interview Sunday on Meet the Press.
"Well, I don’t know what you mean by the reset," Kerry oddly responded.
The question was asked as Sen. Marco Rubio (R., Fla.) among others have argued U.S.-Russia relations are deteriorating and have asked the administration to publicly acknowledge this.
"The Obama administration must publicly acknowledge that its "reset" with Russia is dead. The president must now accept that the only way to deal with tyrants like Vladimir Putin is with a clear understanding that they can’t be trusted and that only decisive action will deter their provocative moves," Rubio wrote in Politico Magazine.
When pressed further by Gregory, Kerry weakly responded, "We've entered into a different phase with Russia. I don't think this is a moment to be proclaiming one thing or the other."
The full exchange is available below:
DAVID GREGORY: Before I get to my final question on Israel with a big meeting with Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister, coming to meet with President Obama, Marco Rubio is on this program in just a few minutes saying it's time for the administration to publicly acknowledge that the reset with Russia is dead. Do you acknowledge that?
JOHN KERRY: Well, I don't know what you mean by the reset.
GREGORY: The reset in relations that this administration called for.
KERRY: I know, but long ago, we've entered into a different phase with Russia. I don't think this is a moment to be proclaiming one thing or the other. We've had difficulties with Russia with respect to certain issues, and even as we have, we've managed to do the Start treaty. They've cooperated on Afghanistan, they've cooperated on Iran. So, it's not a zero-sum, dead-alive. It's a question of differences, very profound differences on certain issues and certain approaches, and we've made those very clear over the course of the last months.