(AGENPARL) - Roma, 11 Novembre 2022 - (AGENPARL) – ven 11 novembre 2022 You are subscribed to Collected Releases for U.S. Department of State. This information has recently been updated, and is now available.
11/10/2022 06:55 PM EST
Ned Price, Department Spokesperson
Washington, DC
2:02 p.m. EST
MR PRICE: Janne, that was a quick commute. I just saw you down the street.
QUESTION: That’s right.
MR PRICE: Wow. (Laughter.) That’s impressive. We either have some cub reporters with us today or some interns in the back. I suspect they’re State Department interns. Welcome. Well, we have a couple of things at the top and then we’ll take your questions.
[] The United States congratulates FIFA, Israel, and Qatar on the historic step of opening direct flights between Tel Aviv and Doha for the duration of the World Cup and commends the efforts that went into arriving at this arrangement. Today’s announcement is a historic development and an important step that also holds great promise to bolster people-to-people ties and economic relations. As President Biden has said, building regional integration – in the Middle East and beyond – brings prosperity and security to the people of the region. We welcome the statement that this move will benefit Israeli and Palestinian soccer fans alike, as a step towards expanding greater freedom of travel for all consistent with Qatar’s pledge that all are welcome at the World Cup. The United States will continue to engage with Israel and our partners across the region for the benefit of all, and we commend Qatar and Israel, both close partners of the United States, for their leadership and spirit of sportsmanship that they have demonstrated with this important development.
[] Next, as you may have seen, USAID Administrator Samantha Power traveled to Lebanon this week where she met with Lebanese citizens, refugees, the speaker, and caretaker prime minister, as well as with officials from the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, the United Nations to discuss the country’s economic crisis and the urgent need for reforms.
Administrator Power announced several new support initiatives for Lebanon, including an additional $72 million in emergency – in emergency food assistance benefiting more than 650,000 vulnerable people in Lebanon, through the United Nations World Food Program.
The Lebanese economy is in crisis because of decades of corruption and mismanagement. This crisis has been exacerbated by President Putin’s brutal war against Ukraine, which has driven up food prices and threatened food security and critical supplies such as fertilizer and grain.
The United States continues to support the Lebanese people as they grapple with the effects of a historic economic crisis and we remain committed to addressing the immediate needs of vulnerable Lebanese and refugee families inside of Lebanon.
[] And finally, as you saw this morning, we announced that Secretary Blinken will be travelling to Egypt, Cambodia, Indonesia, and Thailand on November – starting on November 11th.
While in Sharm El-Sheikh, on November 11, Secretary Blinken will join President Biden at the 2022 United Nations Climate Change Conference, or COP27, to advance United States efforts to strengthen global climate ambition. The Secretary will support the President in urging countries to implement their climate commitments, encouraging all nationally determined contributions to be aligned with the 1.5 degree Celsius goal of the Paris Agreement, and ensuring COP27 is responsive to the priorities and needs of the African continent and of vulnerable developing countries and communities everywhere.
While in Phnom Penh, on November 12th and 13th, Secretary Blinken will support President Biden’s participation in the U.S.-ASEAN Summit and East Asia Summits. The President and Secretary will reaffirm our partnership with ASEAN and support for ASEAN centrality and they’ll discuss regional and global challenges, including the ongoing humanitarian and human rights crisis in Burma. The United States will underscore the importance of U.S.-ASEAN cooperation in ensuring security and prosperity in the region and the well-being of our combined 1 billion people.
While in Bali, on November 13th through the 16th, Secretary Blinken will support President Biden’s participation in the G20 Leaders Summit. The President and Secretary will commend President Widodo’s leadership of the G20 and highlight the U.S. commitment to this premier forum for economic cooperation with countries representing more than 80 percent of the world’s GDP. The United States will reinforce our commitment to work with G20 partners to address key challenges such as climate change and the global impact of President Putin’s war on Ukraine, including when it comes to energy and food security and affordability, as well as a range of other priorities important to the global economic recovery.
And finally, in Bangkok, on November 16th and 17th, the Secretary will advance economic policies in the Asia-Pacific region to promote free, fair, and open trade and investment and advance inclusive and sustainable growth with other foreign and trade ministers at the APEC Ministerial Meeting. He will also support Vice President Kamala Harris’s participation in the APEC Economic Leaders Week, where she will underscore U.S. economic leadership and outline U.S. goals for our APEC host year in 2023, which will build on the progress from Thailand’s host year.
We look forward to sharing more about the Secretary’s travel in the coming days. So we encourage you, all of you who are not joining in person, to follow along virtually.
With that.
QUESTION: Thanks, Ned. I was going to start with Iran, but actually, since you opened with the FIFA-Qatar-Israel thing, I understand that you think this is a great opportunity for Palestinians who can afford a plane ticket to fly from Tel Aviv to Doha, but what about Palestinians who want to fly from Tel Aviv elsewhere? This is a wonderful month-long opportunity, I suppose, but it’s for a game. Okay? And so there are Palestinians who want and need to get out of Ben Gurion to fly to Europe, to visit relatives for family issues, to fly to the U.S., and can’t. So what are you doing about that?
[]MR PRICE: Matt, I understand your point, and it’s well taken. I think what I would say, however, is that this is an incremental step. It is an important incremental step.
QUESTION: But —
MR PRICE: This is not —
QUESTION: But it’s also —
MR PRICE: This is —
QUESTION: But it’s also temporary, and it’s for —
MR PRICE: This is —
QUESTION: — one destination.
MR PRICE: I don’t think I said anything at the outset of this briefing to lend the impression or that would lend the impression that this would be a panacea for some of the obstacles that the Palestinian people face.
QUESTION: I’m not saying you did. I’m just saying that if you think that this is such a wonderful thing, wouldn’t it be a wonderful thing if this could be, like, expanded to – so that Palestinians could actually travel to wherever, not just to Doha?
MR PRICE: A couple points on that. Number one, this is important for a couple reasons. Regional integration – regional integration and furthering the ability of countries in the region to have relationships with one another is something that this administration has invested heavily in. We saw that on full display in the Negev earlier this spring where a number of ministers – five ministers representing five countries, including the United States – were on stage and I think were a testament to the promise and opportunity that comes with regional integration. That’s something we want to see continue.
QUESTION: Okay. But I don’t remember there being any – I was there, and I don’t remember there being any —
MR PRICE: But if —
QUESTION: — Palestinians on the stage.
MR PRICE: But because you were there, you will also —
QUESTION: Yeah.
MR PRICE: You will also remember – you will —
QUESTION: Yes, you – yes, he was in Ramallah meeting with —
MR PRICE: You will —
QUESTION: — President Abbas just before then.
MR PRICE: Well, but I was going to —
QUESTION: But the —
MR PRICE: — a different point. I was going to go to the point that several of these ministers said while speaking at the Negev that this process of normalization is no substitute for progress when it comes to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. We fundamentally believe that. We can welcome incremental steps when it comes to progress —
QUESTION: Okay.
MR PRICE: — between Israel and its neighbors while also acknowledging that there needs to be significant progress when it comes to relations between Israelis and Palestinians, when it comes to tensions between Israel and Palestinians in the West Bank, between Israel and Gaza. That of course remains a focus. This is not a replacement for that, but at the same time, when we see progress, when we see important progress like this, we will welcome it and we will continue to encourage it.
QUESTION: Okay. I’ll come back to it on the —
QUESTION: Can I just —
MR PRICE: Sure.
QUESTION: — just follow up on Matt’s questioning. I mean, sure, you say incremental and so on when you’re talking about integration – incremental integration in the region, but then it – doesn’t that really ignore the big elephant in the room, which is the Israeli occupation? I mean, everybody seems to want to make peace with those who are – they are not at war with. The Israelis are at war with the Palestinians. That is the elephant in the room; don’t you agree?
MR PRICE: Said, we think there can be progress on both fronts. We think there has to be progress on both fronts. As we’ve discussed – you and I have discussed in fact a number of times – this administration is fully and wholly supported – supportive of a negotiated two-state solution between Israelis and Palestinians. Ultimately, that is how this conflict will be solved.
Now, there are many surmountable obstacles that stand in the way to a negotiated two-state settlement between Israelis and Palestinians. What we’ve seen in recent years is the ability of Israel to forge closer relations and in some cases official ties with its neighbors. Doing so is good for the region, it’s good for Israel, it’s good for those Arab and Muslim countries. But what we want to do is to translate the progress that we’re seeing in terms of Israel’s bilateral relationships and regional relationships into progress for the Palestinian people.
The point I made to Matt applies here: when we were in the Negev in the spring, a number of ministers, including Secretary Blinken, including, as I recall, Foreign Minister Lapid – at the time Foreign Minister Lapid – made the point that we cannot allow this to be a substitute. We will continue to work on progress between Israelis and Palestinians. Of course there remains a wide distance and quite a ways between Israelis and Palestinians when it comes to that two?state solution. What we are trying to do incrementally, step by step, is to make progress, to alleviate some of the humanitarian plight that the Palestinians face in places like Gaza and the West Bank, and to work together with Israel, to work together with the Palestinian Authority, to work together with partners in the region to do what we can to achieve progress on that front.
QUESTION: But you know exactly where Matt began. Palestinian Americans, citizens of this country, they cannot fly in and out of Ben Gurion because there is a new law that has been implemented for four – for months – for weeks now or maybe longer. I don’t know exactly how long. And you have not – you have not done anything to ensure that your ally and your benefactor, basically, Israel, is adhering to basic human laws and human rights laws and rights that should —
MR PRICE: So, Said —
QUESTION: — that should be available to all Americans.
MR PRICE: But I have to stop you because that’s just not true. It is just not true. This law was introduced on October 20th.
QUESTION: Right.
MR PRICE: The pilot procedure was published —
QUESTION: Okay.
MR PRICE: — before that.
QUESTION: 20 days ago.
MR PRICE: We had an opportunity to speak with the Israeli Government, with our Israeli partners, about some of the concerns we had. And what ultimately went into effect on October 20th had several improvements when it came to the ability of American citizens, dual citizens to transit. We are continuing to discuss this with our Israeli partners. We remain concerned about the potential for adverse impact that some of these procedures could have on Palestinian civil society, on tourism, investment, academia, and health care. We continue to raise those concerns, but it’s just not true that we haven’t done anything. In fact, we have worked concertedly with our Israeli partners on this.
QUESTION: And lastly, I mean, you keep saying that this is not a substitute, opening up – normalization is not a substitute. Their words. I mean, they – these words are said all the time. You talk about two-state solutions. We have not seen in the last – since this administration came into office, we have not seen any push for negotiations, for instance. Or you had difficulty with the former Israeli Government, the current one, and so on. I think that we are likely to have more difficulty in the future with the kind of government that is being formed in Israel.
So there has not been really any effort or any strong statement on, let’s say, the need to renegotiate these things, or to start negotiations, or for you to sponsor such a negotiation. Am I wrong?
MR PRICE: You’ve seen very strong statements and more than statements from us about the importance about ultimately the imperative of a two-state solution forming the basis of a long-term settlement between Israelis and Palestinians. When we take these jobs, we take something for a diplomatic Hippocratic Oath. Of course, we want to better the lives and livelihoods, the welfare of people around the world. At the same time, we want to ensure that we’re doing no harm. And if a foreign government, if this government were to go in – especially when tensions are high, as unfortunately they have been, between Israelis and Palestinians – and to move aggressively or suggest, put forward a diplomatic approach to the two-state solution at this moment, I’m not certain that that approach would be effective. I’m not certain that approach would serve to de-escalate tensions. And in fact, I think there’s reason to believe it would only exacerbate tensions.
We have focused since January 20th of last year on de-escalating tensions between Israelis and Palestinians. We’ve done that at times of acute tension, like in May of last year between – during the war between Israeli and Gaza, a war that was significantly shortened, a war that saw far fewer lives lost than in previous exchanges between Israel and Gaza, we think because of the role we played, the quiet diplomacy, the quiet diplomatic role that we undertook.
We’re doing the same thing right now, as we’ve seen heightened tensions between Israelis and Palestinians in the West Bank. In the interim, that is not to say that we are standing still when it comes to the humanitarian concerns of the Palestinian people – far from it. You have seen us re-engage with the Palestinian Authority; you’ve seen us re-engage with the Palestinian people; you’ve seen us re-engage with important international institutions, including UNRWA. And we have provided nearly, as I recall, about a billion dollars worth of humanitarian assistance for the Palestinian people in Gaza, in the West Bank, since January of last year.
We believe ultimately – as you’ve heard us say – that Israelis and Palestinians alike deserve equal levels of security, of stability, of democracy, of freedom, of dignity, and of opportunity. And the humanitarian assistance that we are providing and the approach that we are taking attempts to afford greater levels of dignity, greater levels of opportunity for the Palestinian people.
QUESTION: Ned, can I just clear up one thing?
MR PRICE: Sure.
QUESTION: When you opened and you said congratulations to FIFA, Qatar, Israel for this, but is it your understanding that the Palestinians had nothing to do with this agreement?
MR PRICE: I would refer to —
QUESTION: So this is based —
MR PRICE: — those two countries and that institution. This is –
QUESTION: Okay. So it was – so your understanding is this was just between Qatar, FIFA, and Israel; the Palestinians had nothing to do with it. So this is something they should be grateful for, even though it’s like kind of table scraps, right?
MR PRICE: Matt, you’re putting words into mouth. I –
QUESTION: No, no, no, I’m not. I’m just asking –
MR PRICE: I commended this – I commended this as –
QUESTION: Yes, I get it.
MR PRICE: I did not say anyone in particular should be grateful for this.
QUESTION: Okay.
MR PRICE: I said the United States welcomes this. We see this as an important step.
QUESTION: Yes, okay. All right. Secondly, the Hippocratic Oath that you just mentioned –
MR PRICE: Yes.
QUESTION: This applies everywhere? The U.S. wants to do no harm anywhere? I just want to make sure we’re talking about –
MR PRICE: Matt, that is a statement I would subscribe to everywhere, correct.
Humeyra.
QUESTION: Okay. And for – hold on, wait.
MR PRICE: Okay.
QUESTION: Historically as well?
MR PRICE: Matt. (Laughter.)
QUESTION: Yeah? Okay. And then the last thing I just – because Said brought up the new Israeli government, and I – it looks like the internal security minister, the police minister, whatever it is, Mr. Ben-Gvir, has gone and made a visit to the Kahane memorial. And I’m just wondering, you guys have been loath to talk about this before a government has been formed, or talk about the new Israeli government before it has been formed, but I’m just wondering if you have any comments on that.
MR PRICE: Well, of course I’m not commenting on any government that hasn’t yet been formed. But what I can say is that we’ve seen these same reports. Celebrating the legacy of a terrorist organization is abhorrent; there is no other word for it. It is abhorrent. And we remain concerned, as we said before, by the legacy of Kahane Chai and the continued use of rhetoric among violent, right-wing extremists. We’ve condemned incitements, we’ve condemned violence and racism in all of if its forms. There is a good reason why Kahane Chai remains designated as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist organization. We urge all parties to maintain calm, to exercise restraint, and to refrain from actions that only serve to exacerbate tensions, and that includes in Jerusalem.
QUESTION: But it’s no longer an FTO, right?
MR PRICE: My understanding is that it’s still designated as an SDGT.
QUESTION: But it’s no longer an FTO?
MR PRICE: That is my understanding. That’s correct.
Humeyra.
QUESTION: I understand, Ned, that Rob Malley will meet with E3 next week in Paris. Could you confirm that, and can you talk a little bit about what’s going to be discussed?
[]MR PRICE: I don’t have any meetings of him to confirm at the moment, but as you know Rob and his team have been in regular dialogue with our European partners, especially our E3 partners, the French, the Germans, the Brits. Of course, the nature of their conversations have changed quite a bit since – well, over the past several weeks. We have spent a good deal of time at senior levels, including at Rob’s level, including at Deputy Sherman’s level, including at the Secretary’s level speaking about ways that we can demonstrate our support for those brave Iranians, including many women and girls, who are peacefully demonstrating, taking to the streets, to call for the reforms that they’re demanding.
So again, I – if we have any engagement to announce, if we have any travel to announce we will. But the conversations between the United States and our European allies have continued.
QUESTION: I just want to quickly ask about Brittney Griner as well. The President yesterday said he hoped and guessed that Putin would be more seriously engaged. I’m just wondering if there is any base for that hope, whether you guys have picked up any signs in your dealings with the Russians, that they were waiting for the midterms to weigh in on this. Like, what is his hope based on basically?
[]MR PRICE: Well, the fact is, and what the President was alluding to, is the fact the Russians, up until now, have not engaged with the seriousness of purpose and the constructive approach that we would have liked to have seen. We put forward this substantial proposal, as Secretary Blinken announced a number of months ago now, for the release of Paul Whelan and Brittney Griner. The fact that Paul Whelan and Brittney Griner remain behind bars – Brittney Griner for some ten months now, Paul Whelan for more than three years now – is a testament to the fact that this process has not moved as quickly as we would have liked. You’ve heard us say that from our end this process has not been static. We put forward this substantial proposal. We’ve had discussions with the Russians. Those discussions are continuing. We’re continuing to look for ways that we can secure as quickly as possible the release of Paul Whelan and Brittney Griner so that they can be returned to their loved ones here in the United States.
QUESTION: But was there ever, like, a mention of the U.S. midterms? Is that why the President —
MR PRICE: Again, I’m not going to get into the back-and-forth. The fact is that the Russians have not taken an approach to date that we think is sufficient. We have continued to press them to engage seriously and in good faith on the original proposal that we put forward, the alternatives we’ve put forward. We have continued to look for ways to secure as quickly as possible the release of Paul Whelan and Brittney Griner, and we continue to work on those efforts.
QUESTION: And lastly, do you guys have any information about the exact whereabouts of Brittney Griner? Have Russians informed you about that?
MR PRICE: Well, you saw the Secretary put out a statement on this earlier this week. Her transfer to – her transfer from the detention center in Moscow follows a sham trial, follows her unjust sentencing. It is – it only compounds the original injustice of her wrongful detention.
It has, unfortunately, become standard practice on the part of the Russian Federation not to inform us ahead of time when American citizen detainees are transferred from one detention center to another. That is – that was the case in this instance as well. We did not receive a heads-up. Ultimately we had seen press reports and we had engaged very closely with Brittney Griner’s representatives, and we continue to do that. As soon as we learned of her transfer, we requested formally from the Russian Government – we requested more information about her transfer. We are also engaging to do all that we can to ensure that her conditions are as safe, as healthy as can be during this time. That is something that we do for all detained American citizens in Russia and really around the world. We are, as I said before, in frequent contact with her representatives, with her legal teams. And ultimately, we’re in contact with the Russians, one, on the conditions of her confinement, but, two, and importantly, to do all we can to see her and Paul Whelan released.
QUESTION: Ned, on Russia – on this topic —
QUESTION: Staying on – as you know – same topic.
MR PRICE: Same topic? Sure.
QUESTION: Lavrov will be replacing president in Indonesia. Is it the Secretary’s belief that he should be isolated, just like he was a couple of months ago during the ministerial?
MR PRICE: It’s our belief that it can’t be business as usual with the Russian Federation. It’s not only our belief; I think we all saw in Bali during the G20 ministerial in July that Russia was isolated. We heard that from statements from a number of ministers representing the majority of the G20. We heard that. Clearly, Foreign Minister Lavrov heard that as well. The fact that he couldn’t deign to return in the afternoon after hearing condemnation from a number of his peers and counterparts around the table I think speaks to the scorn and to the criticism that he very clearly heard and internalized.
I suspect that Foreign Minister Lavrov, who will be representing his country by public accounts at least, will hear something very similar. Countries around the world have continued to condemn Russia’s ongoing war against Ukraine. This goes well beyond the G7 countries. We’ve heard a number of countries in the region, including countries that have at least initially sought to hedge, countries that have more recently been much more direct and pointed in their remarks, calling for an end to this aggression, making clear that this is not an era of war, that borders cannot and must not be redrawn by force.
And then of course, there are all the attendant implications of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, and I suspect the G20 will be an opportunity for a number of these countries to speak, in some cases to speak firsthand of the implications of rising food prices, rising energy prices, the undermining of the rules-based international order. Those are messages that we heard before – during the G20 and before the Black Sea Grain Initiative went into effect on August 1st. Now that the Black Sea Grain Initiative seems to be again in doubt as the Russians have continued to refuse to make explicit statements that they will extend it, I expect we’ll hear that again.
And it’s only called for, as we hear the Russians essentially asking the rest of the world, “What’s in it for us? What’s in it for us when it comes to renewing the Black Sea Grain Initiative?” They continue to falsely claim that they are not able to export food and fertilizer. That, of course, is totally untrue. We have gone to extraordinary lengths to make clear that our sanctions regime has clear carveouts and clear exemptions for Russian food and fertilizer. We have issued formal guidance – the Treasury Department has. We’ve issued FAQs. We’ve issued public Fact Sheets. We have engaged privately with countries around the world. We’ve even established a call center here at the Department of State for countries or entities who may have questions about any potential sanctions implications of transactions to make sure that countries and entities around the world know that food and fertilizer are exempted from our Russian sanctions regime.
So again, we hear the Russians resorting to these false allegations, and I think the world will again react unkindly when Moscow asks, “What’s in it for us?” when the rest of the world is at risk of going hungry.
QUESTION: And the Secretary has no plan of interacting with him?
MR PRICE: We don’t have any plans for any sort of formal interaction at this point.
QUESTION: Ned, on Russia too.
MR PRICE: Yes.
QUESTION: A Russian court has ordered the deportation of a U.S. citizen who spent 11 months in detention in Russia. Do you have anything on this?
MR PRICE: We are aware of reports that Russia has ordered the deportation of a U.S. citizen. We continue to insist that Russia, as you heard me say a moment ago, allow consistent, timely consular access to all U.S. citizen detainees. We take our role in assisting U.S. citizens abroad seriously. We’re closely monitoring this situation, but of course I’m limited in terms of what I can say due to privacy.
QUESTION: Can I follow up on that?
MR PRICE: Sure.
QUESTION: So did you have consular access to her previously when she was convicted for – or when she spent 11 months in jail for assaulting her partner?
MR PRICE: My understanding is that we did not have consular access in this case. We have made clear to Russia that consistent with their obligations under the Vienna Convention, under international law, that we seek regular, consistent consular access. That’s certainly the case for our wrongful detainees Brittney Griner and Paul Whelan, but it’s true for all American citizen detainees in Russia and around the world.
Staying on this? Yes, Shannon.
QUESTION: Same topic. In regards to Brittney Griner, since that transfer got underway and you reached out to the Russians, have you heard anything back from them? And on the topic of consular access, given that’s been such a problem in Brittney Griner’s case, are you hopeful that U.S. diploments will – U.S. diplomats, rather, will have any access to her once she is transferred to that penal colony?
MR PRICE: So on your first question, my understanding is that we have not heard anything substantive from the Russians since we put forward our formal request seeking additional information on her whereabouts and making clear our expectations that her conditions, the conditions of her confinement, be sufficient and as improved as they can be.
When it comes to other American citizens, what I can say is that American citizens who have been transferred from Moscow, we have in the past been able to secure consular access to them. Many of them do have somewhat regular access to the telephone and they can place calls to the Department of State, place calls to others, but in-person consular access is something that we have sought and something we have secured in the case of other Americans who have been transferred to prison camps outside of Moscow.
QUESTION: Can we just stay on Americans?
MR PRICE: Sure.