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Department Press Briefing – May 24, 2023 [ https://www.state.gov/briefings/department-press-briefing-may-24-2023/ ] 05/24/2023 05:32 PM EDT
Matthew Miller, Department Spokesperson
1:18 p.m. EDT
*MR MILLER:* Afternoon, everyone. Some brief comments before we get started.
The Secretary has just announced a new visa policy under Section 212(a)(3)(C) – known as “3C” – of the Immigration and Nationality Act to support Bangladesh’s goal of holding free, fair, and peaceful national elections. Under this policy, the United States will be able to restrict the issuance of visas for any Bangladeshi individual believed to be responsible for, or complicit in, undermining the democratic election process in Bangladesh. This includes current and former Bangladeshi officials, members of pro-government and opposition political parties, and members of law enforcement, the judiciary, and security services.
Actions that undermine the democratic election process include vote rigging, voter intimidation, the use of violence to prevent people from exercising their right to freedoms of association and peaceful assembly, and the use of measures designed to prevent political parties, voters, civil society, or the media from disseminating their views.
The holding of free and fair elections is the responsibility of everyone – voters, political parties, the government, the security forces, civil society, and the media. And our message today to the people of Bangladesh is that we stand behind you, we stand behind free and fair elections, and we are announcing this policy to support democracy in your country.
And with that, Matt.
*QUESTION:* Well – that’s it? I thought you said you had a couple.
*MR MILLER:* A couple of comments, not a couple of different sets of comments.
*QUESTION:* Oh, oh, a couple comments on the same subject. Okay. Well, I don’t –
*MR MILLER:* I’m going to – I’m going to try as a policy – I won’t promise to not do more than one set of remarks at the beginning of every –
*QUESTION:* All right. Well, I didn’t really have anything; I was just coming in for the entertainment.
*MR MILLER:* Leon? (Laughter.)
*QUESTION:* No, no, no. Hold on. But since – but since you began with – since we began with this Bangladesh thing, there haven’t been any actual sanctions imposed, right?
*MR MILLER:* No. This is –
*QUESTION:* So why do you need this? Can’t you do – can’t you restrict visas anyway?
*MR MILLER:* The announcement of this 3C policy gives us the authority –
*QUESTION:* You already had that, but –
*MR MILLER:* Yes, but it gives us authority under this section of the law to impose visa restrictions.
*QUESTION:* Yeah, yeah, but you already had that authority.
*MR MILLER:* Yes, but this gives us the ability to signal –
*QUESTION:* Well, I – so –
*MR MILLER:* No, hold on. I –
*QUESTION:* You guys do this all over the place, and then you don’t announce any actual sanctions.
*MR MILLER:* We have not taken any sanctions yet –
*QUESTION:* No, I know, but you’ve done –
*MR MILLER:* — but if we see activities that interfere with the election will we do so.
*QUESTION:* Yeah, but –
*MR MILLER:* This – let me just – one thing – in addition to allowing us the ability to take action under this section of the law, we think it’s important to send this signal to the people of Bangladesh that we back free and fair elections and are ready to take action.
*QUESTION:* Okay. So it’s basically a symbolic thing.
*MR MILLER:* It is.
*QUESTION:* Because you could – you could revoke visas for – you can revoke visas for anyone at any time for any reason.
*MR MILLER:* So we believe there is importance in sending the message that we are ready to use the authorities under this section of the law.
*QUESTION:* All right. But – okay. But there are – okay. But just to make clear, there are no —
*MR MILLER:* No announcements of – no announcements of sanctions today. Not today.
*QUESTION:* And when you do, if and when you do, because visa records are confidential, you won’t tell us?
*MR MILLER:* Correct.
*QUESTION:* Yeah.
*MR MILLER:* That’s correct. But we will notify the people.
*QUESTION:* So – (laughter). So what’s the point? I mean –
*MR MILLER:* The point is signaling to anyone in Bangladesh who may be considering actions that would interfere with the ability of the Bangladeshi people to make their voices heard that we are watching and –
*QUESTION:* I’m sure this will be a grand deterrent. But okay.
*MR MILLER:* We think it’s an important step.
*QUESTION:* Thank you.
*MR MILLER:* Yeah.
*QUESTION:* Just to follow up on that, are you expecting that there will be rigged elections or irregularities, because you’re sort of doing this preemptive strike? Is that in any way a warning or criticism of the government and the prime minister in Bangladesh?
*MR MILLER:* No, I think it is a signal by our part that we support free, fair, and peaceful elections in Bangladesh, and we have the ability to hold anyone accountable who hinders the – any free, fair election in the country. And it’s – it is a signal –
*QUESTION:* And usually —
*MR MILLER:* It is a signal to all members of society, as I mentioned – military security forces, members of judiciary – that we have this ability and that we are paying attention.
*QUESTION:* Yeah. Usually you impose these visa restrictions or sanctions when there’s proof of irregularities. In this case you’re saying, “Watch out if?”
*MR MILLER:* Correct. And if there is proof of irregularities, we will impose the appropriate measures.
*QUESTION:* Okay.
*MR MILLER:* Yeah.
*QUESTION:* Matt, hi. Are you able to say anything more on the Kremlin accusation that U.S.-made military hardware by pro-Ukrainian fighters were used on the (inaudible) Russian border region? Kirby talked a little bit about it, but it – I wondered if you got any updates from yesterday (inaudible).
*MR MILLER:* So I’ll say that we are looking into the reports. We’ve obviously seen the reports by media organizations over the last 24 hours or so. As a general policy matter, we have been clear that we don’t – we don’t support the use of U.S.-made equipment being used for attacks inside of Russia, and we’re looking into the reports. But we have not reached any conclusions at this time.
*QUESTION:* Do you have – do you anticipate when you might reach conclusions based on what you’ve seen on the investigation so far?
*MR MILLER:* I wouldn’t want to prejudge either the outcome or when we’ll reach that outcome, other than to say we’re looking into it now and don’t yet have any verified conclusions.
*QUESTION:* Follow on that.
*MR MILLER:* Yeah.
*QUESTION:* Yesterday you articulated some skepticism about this equipment.
*MR MILLER:* Mm-hmm.
*QUESTION:* Does that skepticism remain, or are you sort of more or less inclined in any given direction?
*MR MILLER:* So what I will say is, again, that we’re looking into the reports. When I made the remarks I did yesterday, they were based on the images that we had seen circulating on social media, some of which we did have a great deal of skepticism about. Since then there have obviously been media reports with additional images. We are looking into those reports. But as I said, we have not yet reached any conclusions about them.
*QUESTION:* Okay. Apart from the equipment itself, has the U.S. come to an independent conclusion as to who carried out these attacks?
*MR MILLER:* We have not.
*QUESTION:* Is that an ongoing process?
*MR MILLER:* It is. We are looking into it. And I would say, as always, for questions about battlefield updates or updates on the ground, probably best to direct them to the Pentagon.
*QUESTION:* Okay. And one more. If you can’t comment on this specific instance, can you talk broadly about how the U.S. – what safeguards it has in place to prevent U.S.-supplied material to fall into the hands of, for example, sympathetic militia groups operating in Russia?
*MR MILLER:* So I will say that – a few things. Number one, the Government of Ukraine has shown that they take the responsibility to safeguard arms seriously. It’s been something that’s been a matter of dialogue between the United States and Ukraine since even before the conflict, when we began to provide them with the assistance they need to defend themselves. We’re going to work to continue to ensure that the assistance we provide them complies with all U.S. laws and other applicable requirements. And we will continue to communicate to the Ukrainians what has been our very clear policy, which is we don’t encourage or enable attacks beyond the borders of Ukraine.
*QUESTION:* If – last one.
*MR MILLER:* Yeah.
*QUESTION:* If it is determined that U.S. equipment was used in this instance, what are the possible repercussions for Ukraine specifically?
*MR MILLER:* I think what I’ll say is we continue to look into the reports, and I don’t think it would be appropriate for me to prejudge what the outcome of those – what the outcome would be based on what that – what we ultimately are able to conclude.
*QUESTION:* Let me put differently, and take it out of the hypothetical realm.
*MR MILLER:* Yeah.
*QUESTION:* I’m trying to figure out a way to start this without “if.”
*MR MILLER:* Without getting into a hypothetical? Yeah.
*QUESTION:* Yeah, exactly. Should it be determined that U.S. equipment was used, what is the consequence for that? Is there an end use – an end user violation here?
*MR MILLER:* So that presupposes —
*QUESTION:* No, it doesn’t. I’m asking —
*MR MILLER:* Yes.
*QUESTION:* I won’t ask –
*MR MILLER:* But – “should” is slightly different than “if,” but I think gets you to the same place, which is we are looking into it and I wouldn’t want to prejudge what the outcome of that is before we reach any conclusions.
*QUESTION:* Well, that’s fine. But in general, would this be a violation of an end user agreement?
*MR MILLER:* Again, these are reports that we’ve not yet verified.
*QUESTION:* I’m not —
*MR MILLER:* So I don’t want to —
*QUESTION:* I’m not – in general – in general, forget about this. Let’s say – let’s talk —
*MR MILLER:* I’d rather talk about specific instances than generalities.
*QUESTION:* Okay, let’s say that it was – it could have been in, I don’t know, Madagascar.
*MR MILLER:* Yeah.
*QUESTION:* Okay? If – and again, all right, there’s an “if.” But if U.S. weapons – U.S.-provided munitions equipment, military equipment, are used in a way that you find not to be compatible with U.S. law or the end user requirements, what is the consequence?
*MR MILLER:* I will say we have been very —
*QUESTION:* In general. Forget about this incident.
*MR MILLER:* I don’t think it’s – I don’t think it is possible to address this in general without my comments being directed at this specific incident. So I will say that we have been clear with our Ukrainian partners, as we have been publicly, that we don’t encourage or enable attacks outside Ukraine. We will continue to have those conversations with them privately. But I do think, as I said, as long as we are looking into this matter, it wouldn’t be appropriate to prejudge what any actions might be before we’ve reached a conclusion about what actually has happened.
*QUESTION:* Can I follow up on equipment? Not this particular equipment —
*MR MILLER:* Yeah.
*QUESTION:* — but U.S. equipment and the use. The President announced that they will okay F?16s for Ukraine. Now, experts say that it takes about 12 months to train already – aviators who are already elsewhere in some other air force. So in the meantime, would the U.S., let’s say, give a green light to, let’s say, volunteers from other countries that may have already trained pilots on the F-16 to go and fly these airplanes?
*MR MILLER:* I don’t want to speak to the actions of citizens of other countries. What I will say, we obviously have made clear that we are not putting U.S. – the President has made clear from the outset we’re not putting U.S. military boots on the ground. I’ll make clear that we have said that U.S. citizens should not travel to Ukraine.
And then with respect to F-16s themselves, one general comment before I get into the specific policy, and the general comment is that one of the things that we have seen throughout the conflict is that the Ukrainians are a very quick study. So whatever estimates you may be citing about how long it takes —
*QUESTION:* I mean —
*MR MILLER:* — let me finish – how long it may take them to get up to speed, I wouldn’t want to verify that assessment through my answer other than to say that they have been very quick at getting up to speed in being able to operate the equipment that we have provided to them.
The second thing I will say, stepping back, is that as the President has made clear, we are going to begin training Ukrainian pilots on F-16s. We’re going to work with our partners and allies both on the training and then on the ultimate provision of F-16s to the Ukrainian military.
*QUESTION:* Yeah, but in the interim – yeah, in the interim if, let’s say, Polish volunteers —
*MR MILLER:* I’m not going to speak with respect to volunteers from other countries.
Before we move on, anything else on Russia?
*QUESTION:* Yeah.
*QUESTION:* Same region.
*MR MILLER:* Go ahead, Alex.
*QUESTION:* Same region. So I —
*MR MILLER:* Same region. If it’s not Russia-Ukraine, let’s do Russia-Ukraine. I’ll come —
*QUESTION: *Yes.
*MR MILLER: *We’ll do elsewhere in the region —
*QUESTION: *Yeah.
*MR MILLER: *— before we come back.
*QUESTION: *Please come back to me later on Caucasus. I have —
*MR MILLER: *Alex, I could never not come back to you. (Laughter.)
*QUESTION: *Okay.
*MR MILLER: *Come on.
*QUESTION: *I mean, I was actually going to ask about Russia-Ukraine.
*MR MILLER: *Understand. Understand. Go ahead.
*QUESTION: *So in your comment to the provisions, you said it is – I don’t think it’s possible to address this in general without my comments being directed to the specific incident. So my question is: Are there any provisions on the – are defense articles provided to Ukraine or not?
*MR MILLER: *We have been very clear with the Ukrainians as we have been publicly that we do not encourage and we do not enable – we do not provide U.S. assistance with the purpose of enabling attacks outside Ukraine.
*QUESTION: *And then also —
*MR MILLER: *Yeah.
*QUESTION: *— so the Pentagon has yesterday said they have not authorized Ukrainians to transfer any of the defense articles to any other groups other than the Ukrainian military. And it – it appears that – I know you don’t have a – you don’t have specifics on this specific case, but it appears that there might be some diversions. Are you confident that there are no diversions of the U.S. military assistance in Ukraine?
*MR MILLER: *I don’t think I want to get into questions of what appears to be true while we’re looking into the specific matter. As I’ve said, we have a number of safeguards in place. I would – to prevent the transfer of equipment from Ukraine – our Ukrainian partners to others. I will leave it to the Pentagon to speak to the specifics of those and again restate our over policy – our overall policy, which is to not encourage or enable attacks outside Ukraine.
Okay. Alex.
*QUESTION: *Ukraine.
*MR MILLER: *And I’ll come to you next.
*QUESTION: *Ukraine.
*QUESTION:* You guys said that Russia has abducted more children under the false pretext of medical examination. I know we discussed it on different context yesterday. Before I ask that, have you — did you have a chance to develop around what you told us yesterday about Moscow meeting between the UN official and (inaudible)?
*MR MILLER: *Yeah, I am glad you mentioned – I am glad you mentioned that because yesterday when you asked me, we had seen the reports of the meeting. We had not yet confirmed it ourself. We have now confirmed that meeting in the last 24 hours, and I will say that we are deeply concerned that a senior UN diplomat met with a fugitive subject to an ICC arrest warrant for committing war crimes against children. Such conduct undermines our shared commitment to protecting children in conflict zones.
As we have said before – and Alex, this goes to I think the broader question you were going to ask – Russia is forcibly deporting children from Ukraine. They’re denying parents and legal guardians access to those children, giving away children from – and giving children from Ukraine Russian passports in an attempt to take away a part of their identity. Children are among the most vulnerable groups. They must be protected, especially in times of war. And we continue to account – call for accountability for war crimes.
*QUESTION: *Thank you. And my second topic on this, the Secretary today spoke with NATO chief and discussed Ukraine, who apparently made headlines early this morning by saying that Ukraine’s membership bid is not on the agenda before the end of the war. I’m just wondering, are you – do you guys share that viewpoint?
*MR MILLER: *So I will let the NATO secretary general speak for himself. I did see that one of the things he said, which is just an obvious statement of fact, that accession to NATO for any country requires the unanimous consent of all 31 NATO members. That’s an important fact to keep in mind. And with respect to the general question, I will say what we have said for some time, which is we remain committed to NATO’s open door policy. We made that clear before this conflict began. When Russia was very much objecting to open door policy, we stood behind it, said it was an important principle to protect. But our focus right now, today, is giving Ukraine the military it needs to hold Russia accountable, to repel the Russian army from its borders, at the same time taking whatever actions we can to hold Russia accountable for its crimes.
*QUESTION: *I understand this is not the Secretary’s viewpoint.