US escalates economic pressure on Cuba with more sanctions to come: Rubio

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that the administration of President Donald Trump is escalating economic pressure on Cuba with an unprecedented sanctions campaign and warned that "there are no escape valves."

Rubio told Axios on Friday that the Trump administration will impose additional sanctions against Cuba, adding that Washington is in no rush.

"One of the things we've lost in American foreign policy and geopolitics is the concept of patience and persistence," Rubio said. "My level of confidence is that when this administration is over, at a minimum, Cuba will be on an irreversible glide path toward a different future."

Rubio argued the goal is to block every avenue the Cuban government might use to evade sanctions, adding: "Every time they create a new mechanism in which they try to get out of the noose, we just close it off."

"They certainly can't wait us out. Certainly, this isn't going to go away for the next 2½ years."

Bilateral relations have entered a confrontational phase under US President Donald Trump, whose administration has made regime change an explicit objective.

Washington has used an oil blockade and sweeping sanctions to pressure Havana, leading to months of rolling blackouts and an unstable power grid.