(AGENPARL) – dom 04 dicembre 2022 You are subscribed to Secretary’s Remarks for U.S. Department of State. This information has recently been updated, and is now available.
12/04/2022 02:20 PM EST
Antony J. Blinken, Secretary of State
Washington, D.C.
QUESTION: Secretary Blinken, thanks so much for joining us.
SECRETARY BLINKEN: Morning, Jake.
QUESTION: Let’s start with Ukraine, because it’s clear that Russia is openly terrorizing the Ukrainian people with attacks not just on civilians but on civilian infrastructure. There are many in Congress, including Speaker Pelosi, who have called on the Biden administration to label Russia a State Sponsor of Terrorism. Now, I know the White House says that such a move could have unintended consequences, such as delaying food exports, but frankly the Government of Ukraine isn’t buying that explanation. They say that you could avoid that with carve-outs for food and goods. Why haven’t you labeled Russia a State Sponsor of Terrorism?
SECRETARY BLINKEN: Jake, let’s look at what’s happening first. Putin tried to erase Ukraine from the map, erase its identity, subsume it back into Russia – that failed. Then he engaged in a land grab in eastern Ukraine and southern Ukraine – that’s been failing because the Ukrainian military’s been pushing back and taking back a lot of the territory that Putin gained. Now, to your point, what he’s doing is trying to weaponize winter – turn out the lights, turn off the heat, put the Ukrainian people into darkness and cold just as they head into the winter months. This is indeed barbaric. We are pushing back very strongly in our support for Ukraine, making sure that they’re getting the missile defenses they need, working on getting them the different pieces for their energy infrastructure that they need as Putin tries to destroy it.
As to sanctions, we have leveled unprecedented sanctions against Russia, unprecedented export controls, all of that in coordination with dozens of countries. I just got back from meetings at NATO. The solidarity among the NATO partners, the G7 partners is very strong and resolute. So we’re constantly looking at different measures that we can take to, as necessary, increase the pressure. We’re working with Congress right now on legislation that would help us get around some of the challenges of using the State Sponsor of Terrorism designation, which, as you said, has some unintended consequences.
QUESTION: Right.
SECRETARY BLINKEN: We’re finding – working with Congress on a way forward to get to the same place.
QUESTION: So you have imposed these sanctions, that’s true. Here’s another question for you, though. What new costs has the U.S. Government inflicted on Russia for its targeting of Ukrainian civilians and infrastructure since these new bombings started in October? I don’t think there have been any new costs since October.
SECRETARY BLINKEN: Jake, the costs are accumulating every single day, because the impact of the sanctions is both immediate but then it grows over time. And what we’re seeing is Russia having an inability to replace the weapons it’s using, in large part because of the export controls that we put in place, meaning they can’t get the spare parts, they can’t bring things in from the outside. We see across their economy devastating effects from the sanctions that only grow. And in particular, if you’re looking at Russia’s efforts to modernize its economy, whether it – whether it’s energy technology, whether it’s its basic telecommunications infrastructure, whether it’s its defense and aerospace industry, every single day that goes by with these sanctions in place the burden on Russia gets heavier and heavier, its ability to prosecute these kinds of wars gets weaker and weaker.
QUESTION: Mm-hmm. The Biden administration has been outspoken in its support for the Iranian protesters. You’re taking a more tepid approach to the protests in China against “Zero COVID” policy and other government overreaches. Republican Senator Marco Rubio has called your response so far weak and “nothing short of cowardly” when it comes to China. Now, I know the U.S. supports the rights of all people to protest, but specifically on these “Zero COVID” protesters in China, does the Biden administration support the protesters in China?
SECRETARY BLINKEN: Of course we do. We support the right people everywhere, whether it’s in China, whether it’s Iran, whether it’s anyplace else, to protest peacefully, to make known their views, to vent their frustrations. And as that’s repressed in one way or another in any given country, we speak out against it, we stand up against it, and we take action against it. In the case of Iran, we’ve worked very hard to impose sanctions on those responsible for the crackdown on mostly Iranian women who’ve been leading these – in an incredibly courageous way – these protests since the death of Mahsa Amini, as well as trying to make sure that Iranians have in their hands the communications technology to allow them to continue talking to each other and connected to the outside world.
We’ve spoken out against the repression of protesters anywhere, including in China, but fundamentally, Jake, this is not about us. This is about people in both countries trying to express their views, trying to have their aspirations met, and the response that the governments are taking to that.
QUESTION: You’re traveling to China at the beginning of the new year. What are you going to say to Xi Jinping about the protesters?
SECRETARY BLINKEN: Say what we always say and what President Biden has said to Xi Jinping, which is that human rights and basic civil liberties go to the heart of who we are as Americans, and no American government, no American president is going to be silent on that. But this trip early next year follows the President’s conversations with Xi Jinping on the margins of the G20 summit that we recently had in Indonesia, and it’s very important that we are communicating directly and clearly with China. We want to make sure that there are no misunderstandings, no miscommunication, that we have a floor under the relationship. And the President’s had a productive conversation in that sense. We want to make sure that there are active channels of communication, and that is the best way to make sure that there’s no miscommunication.