{"id":45168,"date":"2022-02-22T17:06:53","date_gmt":"2022-02-23T01:06:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/?p=45168"},"modified":"2022-02-22T17:06:53","modified_gmt":"2022-02-23T01:06:53","slug":"secretary-antony-j-blinken-and-ukrainian-foreign-minister-dmytro-kuleba-at-a-joint-press-availability","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/?p=45168","title":{"rendered":"Secretary Antony J. Blinken And Ukrainian Foreign Minister\u00a0Dmytro Kuleba At a Joint Press Availability"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n
02\/22\/2022 07:27 PM EST<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

Antony J. Blinken, Secretary of State<\/p>\n

Dmytro Kuleba, Ukrainian Foreign Minister<\/p>\n

Washington, D.C.<\/p>\n

SECRETARY BLINKEN<\/strong>:\u00a0 Good afternoon, everyone.<\/p>\n

Since Foreign Minister Kuleba and I were in Munich just a few days ago, Russia\u2019s aggression toward Ukraine and its rejection of international law and diplomacy have accelerated.<\/p>\n

Yesterday, President Putin recognized the so-called \u201cindependence\u201d of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Ukraine, where violent Russian-backed separatists have been fighting a war since 2014.\u00a0 A few hours later, he gave authorization to Russian troops to enter those regions.<\/p>\n

For weeks, we\u2019ve been warning the world that Russia was mobilizing for military aggression against Ukraine.\u00a0 We\u2019ve made clear that if Russia invaded, the United States and our allies and partners would impose swift and severe consequences.<\/p>\n

Now that Russia has moved against Ukraine, so, too, have we moved on our strong and unified response.<\/p>\n

This afternoon, the President announced the first round of sanctions on Russia in response to its actions.\u00a0 These have been closely coordinated with our allies and partners.\u00a0 We\u2019ll continue to escalate our sanctions if Russia escalates its aggression toward Ukraine.<\/p>\n

Today, we\u2019re implementing full blocking sanctions on two large Russian financial institutions, VEB and Promsvyazbank, both of which have close links to the Kremlin and the Russian military.\u00a0 Collectively, they hold more than $80 billion in assets.\u00a0 These measures will freeze their assets in the United States, prohibit American individuals or businesses from doing any transactions with them, shut them out of the global financial system, and foreclose access to the U.S. dollar.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re expanding our existing sanctions on Russian sovereign debt.\u00a0 We\u2019ve already prohibited U.S. financial institutions from trading in Russian sovereign debt in the primary market; now we\u2019re extending that prohibition to the secondary market.\u00a0 These prohibitions will cut off the Russian Government from a key avenue by which it raises capital to fund its priorities and will increase future financing costs.\u00a0 They also deny Russia access to key U.S. markets and investors.<\/p>\n

Starting today, we\u2019ll impose sanctions on members of the Russian elite and their family members, all of whom directly benefit from their connections with the Kremlin.\u00a0 Other Russian elites and their family members are on notice that additional actions could be taken against them.<\/p>\n

These steps are in addition to the executive order President Biden issued yesterday to prohibit new investment, trade, and financing by Americans to, from, and in the so-called DNR and LNR regions.<\/p>\n

And just as the President said we would do, today the Department of Defense announced that we would be sending additional forces to NATO\u2019s eastern flank to deter and defend against any Russian aggression directed at our allies.<\/p>\n

We also made clear that if Russia invaded Ukraine, we would act with Germany to ensure that the Nord Stream 2 pipeline does not move forward.\u00a0 Today, Chancellor Scholz announced that the German Government is suspending the pipeline indefinitely.\u00a0 We\u2019ve been in close consultation with Germany throughout this process.\u00a0 We welcome this swift and decisive and action.\u00a0 And we\u2019re executing a plan in close coordination with allies and partners to secure the stability of global energy supplies, which is in all of our interests.<\/p>\n

The United States and our allies and partners are united in the face of Russian aggression. \u00a0This morning, the European Union and the United Kingdom announced a series of strong complementary actions.<\/p>\n

President Putin\u2019s deeply disturbing speech yesterday and his statements today make clear to the world how he views Ukraine: not as a sovereign nation with the right to territorial integrity and independence, but rather as a creation of Russia, and therefore subordinate to Russia.\u00a0 It\u2019s a completely false assertion that ignores history, international law, and the tens of millions of patriotic Ukrainians who are proud citizens of a free and independent Ukraine.<\/p>\n

Now that we\u2019ve heard it directly from President Putin himself, it confirms what we\u2019ve been saying: that he did not send more than 150,000 troops to the Ukrainian border because of benign military exercises, or to respond to threatened aggression from Ukraine, or to stop a fabricated genocide by Ukraine, or any other manufactured reason.\u00a0 His plan all along has been to invade Ukraine; to control Ukraine and its people; to destroy Ukraine\u2019s democracy, which offers a stark contrast to the autocracy that he leads; to reclaim Ukraine as a part of Russia.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why this is the greatest threat to security in Europe since World War II.\u00a0 Ukraine is in danger.\u00a0 President Putin is blatantly and violently breaking the laws and principles that have kept the peace across Europe and around the world for decades.<\/p>\n

Yesterday, at an emergency session of the UN Security Council requested by Ukraine, the United States and many other countries condemned Russia\u2019s renewed attack on Ukraine\u2019s sovereignty and territorial integrity as a violation of international law and the United Nations Charter.\u00a0 U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield underscored that President Putin has now torn to shreds the Minsk Agreements, which sought to end the conflict in the Donbas region of Ukraine peacefully, through diplomacy.\u00a0 President Putin himself essentially declared those agreements null and void.<\/p>\n

The complete abdication of Russia\u2019s commitments under the Minsk Agreements is just the latest demonstration of Russia\u2019s hypocrisy when it comes to the agreements that it claims to seek and to uphold.\u00a0 Since the beginning of this Russian-manufactured crisis, Moscow has insisted that only legally binding agreements could satisfy its security concerns.\u00a0 But the Minsk Agreements now join a long line of agreements, many legally binding, that President Putin has broken.<\/p>\n

These include the Helsinki Final Act, in which all OSCE countries, including Russia, pledged to respect national sovereignty and territorial integrity and refrain from the threat of the use of force; the Charter of Paris, which further established countries\u2019 responsibilities to honor those pledges; the Conventional Armed Forces in Europe Treaty, which limits the deployment of military equipment in Europe; the Vienna Document, in which all OSCE countries, including Russia, agreed to confidence-and security-building measures to increase transparency and predictability about their military activities; and of course, the Budapest Memorandum, in which Russia promised to respect Ukraine\u2019s independence and sovereignty in its 1994 borders and refrain from using force against Ukraine.<\/p>\n

In the past 24 hours alone, with his actions toward Ukraine, President Putin has violated all of these agreements.\u00a0 He is undoing more than 30 years\u2019 worth of painstaking diplomacy by Russia and the countries and institutions of Europe and the North Atlantic region to preserve stability and security for the sake of hundreds of millions of our citizens.<\/p>\n

Every time Russia breaks one of these agreements, it not only endangers the countries that it\u2019s threatening at the time, but nations everywhere that have been made safer and more secure by the international rules-based order.<\/p>\n

Last week, I agreed to meet Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov this week on February 24th to discuss our countries\u2019 respective concerns about European security, but only if Russia did not invade Ukraine.\u00a0 Now that we see the invasion is beginning and Russia has made clear its wholesale rejection of diplomacy, it does not make sense to go forward with that meeting at this time.\u00a0 I consulted with our allies and partners \u2013 all agree \u2013 and today I sent Foreign Minister Lavrov a letter informing him of this.<\/p>\n

The United States, and I personally, remain committed to diplomacy if Russia is prepared to take demonstrable steps to provide the international community with any degree of confidence that it\u2019s serious about de-escalating and finding a diplomatic solution.\u00a0 We will proceed, in coordination with allies and partners, based on Russia\u2019s actions and the facts on the ground.\u00a0 But we will not allow Russia to claim the pretense of diplomacy at the same time it accelerates its march down the path of conflict and war.<\/p>\n

There is no question what has happened here.\u00a0 We\u2019ve all seen how Russia has relentlessly mobilized for war despite intensive efforts by others, including the United States, to engage them on a diplomatic path.\u00a0 We\u2019ve seen through their false flags; we\u2019ve predicted their lies.\u00a0 In the hours and days ahead, any further escalatory steps by Russia will be met with further swift and severe measures, coordinated with allies and partners, on top of those announced today.\u00a0 We\u2019ll continue to stand with our allies and partners to support Ukraine as it faces Russia\u2019s threats with courage and strength.\u00a0 And we\u2019ll continue to defend the international laws that keep every country in the world safe from the kind of aggression that Russia is now inflicting upon Ukraine.<\/p>\n

Dmytro.<\/p>\n

FOREIGN MINISTER KULEBA:\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>I\u2019m grateful to Secretary Blinken for welcoming me in D.C. today.\u00a0 We \u2013 I think we spoke \u2013 this is our third or fourth encounter in the last four days, and this speaks for the dynamics and the quality of our relationship, but also for the urgency of the current crisis that needs to be handled.\u00a0 We meet at a very tense and responsible time for Ukraine, for the United States, and for the world.\u00a0 We all are at a critical juncture for the security of Europe, as well as international peace and security more broadly.\u00a0 Russian aggression has brought the world to the edge of the largest catastrophe since World War II.<\/p>\n

Yesterday, President Putin moved to recognize two pieces of Ukrainian land as independent entities.\u00a0 Ukraine does not and will never recognize this absurdity, neither will the world recognize it.\u00a0 In fact, what Putin recognized is not the so-called Donetsk People Republic and Luhansk People Republic.\u00a0 He recognized his direct responsibility for the war against Ukraine and an unprovoked and unjustified war on another sovereign state in Europe, which Russia now intensifies.<\/p>\n

President Putin killed Minsk Agreements, and more broadly, he attacked the world order. Needless to say, Russia\u2019s move is a grave breach of international law and a new act of aggression against Ukraine\u2019s sovereignty and territorial integrity.\u00a0 Therefore, Ukraine strongly believes the time for sanctions is now, and in this context we welcome today\u2019s announcement of sanctions by President Biden.\u00a0 The world must respond with all its economic might to punish Russia for the crimes it has already committed and ahead of the crimes it plans to commit.\u00a0 Hit Russia\u2019s economy now and hit it hard.<\/p>\n

I commend immense efforts of the U.S. diplomacy led by Tony to mobilize the global coalition of allies and partners to stop Russia.\u00a0 The entire world stands today with Ukraine, and rightly so.\u00a0 Putin wants much more than a war-torn piece of Ukrainian land and people living there.\u00a0 What stops him is only our unity and resolve, and we can still stop him.<\/p>\n

Ukraine continues the engagement with the United States, EU, and NATO in diplomatic efforts to ease tensions.\u00a0 Yet, we also stand ready for any possible development.\u00a0 We had a focused discussion today with Secretary Blinken on steps to protect Ukraine and our multi-dimensional resilience.\u00a0 One of the \u2013 proposal that we put forward today is designing a program similar to the Lend-Lease implemented during the World War II to support the war efforts of the Allies in Eastern \u2013 in east \u2013 in Europe.\u00a0 This program will help to ensure sustainable \u2013 sustainability and will improve efficiency in the \u2013 in strengthening the capacity of Ukraine to defend itself.<\/p>\n

The last point that I would like to make:\u00a0 Today we discussed some very specific ideas, and we appreciate very concrete steps made by the United States.\u00a0 These days we receive proposals from some countries to condemn Russia\u2019s behavior, to condemn but not follow the condemnation with action.\u00a0 And I would like to say that condemnations are important, but it\u2019s actions that really matter now, these days.\u00a0 And I am grateful to our strategic partner, the United States, for its ironclad support, including military, economic, and political diplomatic assistance provided to Ukraine.\u00a0 The Ukrainian people will surely remember the United States standing with Ukraine at this decisive moment in history.\u00a0 Thank you.<\/p>\n

MR PRICE:<\/strong>\u00a0 We\u2019ll now turn to questions and we\u2019ll take two from each delegation.\u00a0 We\u2019ll start with Vivian Salama of\u00a0The Wall Street Journal<\/em>.<\/p>\n

QUESTION:<\/strong>\u00a0 Thank you very much.\u00a0 Mr. Secretary, President Biden said three days ago that if Russia invades, they will have chosen war and the door to diplomacy will be closed.\u00a0 Today, however, he seemed to have left the door open for diplomacy despite labeling what Russia has done as an invasion.\u00a0 And so even though you\u2019ve now canceled your meeting with Minister Lavrov, can you say what the circumstances would entail to justify talks at this point absent, say, a full withdrawal?\u00a0 Does the actions in Donbas kind of open the door for potential negotiations?<\/p>\n

And on that point, if you would both indulge me with two questions, President Putin today also said that the crisis could be resolved if Kyiv promised to abandon future efforts to join NATO, and so that\u2019s been a nonstarter for the West.\u00a0 So what needs to happen, then, for any of these talks to actually be entertained?<\/p>\n

Minister Kuleba, good to see you again.\u00a0 Quick questions for you.\u00a0 Does the Ukrainian Government have any plans to evacuate Mariupol or Kharkiv in the coming days just given the events that we\u2019ve seen in Donbas?<\/p>\n

And secondly, the United States has informed the United Nations of a credible \u2013 of credible information showing that Moscow has compiled a list of Ukrainians to be killed or sent to camps following a military occupation.\u00a0 Were you informed of this list \u2013 your government, was it informed of this list \u2013 and have any actions been taken to respond to it?\u00a0 Thank you.<\/p>\n

SECRETARY BLINKEN:<\/strong>\u00a0 Thank you.\u00a0 I\u2019m happy to start.\u00a0 First, the further renewed Russian invasion of Ukraine that has now begun means clearly that the idea of having a meeting this week with Foreign Minister Lavrov to pursue diplomacy \u2013 diplomacy now rejected by Russia \u2013 does not make sense.\u00a0 But, having said that, to the extent there is anything that we can do to avert an even worse-case scenario \u2013 an all-out assault on all of Ukraine, including its capital, that would inflict horrific costs on the Ukrainian people \u2013 we will always pursue that.<\/p>\n

So we, our partners remain open to diplomacy, but Moscow needs to demonstrate that it\u2019s serious.\u00a0 The last 24 hours it\u2019s demonstrated just the opposite.\u00a0 It hasn\u2019t been serious to date, including with regard to the meeting that was planned for Thursday.\u00a0 We made clear that in the context of a Russian invasion, we would not go forward with that meeting.\u00a0 If Moscow\u2019s approach changes, we remain \u2013 I remain \u2013 very much prepared to engage.<\/p>\n

With regard to President Putin\u2019s statement about NATO and the open door, it\u2019s very clear what we\u2019ve seen in the last 24 hours that this has never been about Ukraine and NATO per se.\u00a0 What President Putin has made clear is that this is about the total subjugation of Ukraine to Russia.\u00a0 It\u2019s about reconstituting the Russian empire or, short of that, a sphere of influence, or, short of that, the total neutrality of countries surrounding Russia.\u00a0 And so the issue of Ukraine and NATO has really been an argument \u2013 an excuse \u2013 to mask the fact that what this is about is President Putin\u2019s view that Ukraine is not a sovereign country, that it does not have an existence or independence not associated in some fashion with Russia, a proposition that we not only firmly reject but so does virtually every Ukrainian.<\/p>\n

FOREIGN MINISTER KULEBA:<\/strong>\u00a0 I can only reiterate what Secretary just said of NATO.\u00a0 NATO is a choice of the people of Ukraine.\u00a0 No one but Ukraine and NATO will decide on the future of our relationship, and it has never been about NATO for Putin.\u00a0 Putin \u2013 it\u2019s just an excuse.\u00a0 Even if we do nothing, President Putin will find a reason to accuse us of doing something.<\/p>\n

Regarding our plans to evacuate Mariupol or Kharkiv, no, we do not have such plans.\u00a0 We have two plans.\u00a0 Plan A is to utilize every tool of diplomacy to deter Russia and prevent further escalation.\u00a0 And if that fails, Plan B is to fight for every inch of our land and every city and every village.\u00a0 To fight until we win, of course.<\/p>\n

And about the list of extermination, no, we haven\u2019t received it officially, but I wouldn\u2019t exclude that such a list can exist.<\/p>\n

MR PRICE:<\/strong>\u00a0 We\u2019ll turn to Olga Koshelenko from 1+1 Media.<\/p>\n

QUESTION:<\/strong>\u00a0 Good afternoon, Mr. Secretary of State.\u00a0 From your perspective, is Budapest Memorandum alive or dead, and do the United States recognize any legal obligations under it?<\/p>\n

And a quick follow-up to Mr. Kuleba:\u00a0 What actions do you expect from partners to be taken under Budapest?\u00a0 Thank you.<\/p>\n

SECRETARY BLINKEN:<\/strong>\u00a0 Well, in effect, Russia began to tear up the Budapest Memorandum in 2014 when it seized Crimea and went into the Donbas \u2013 leading, backing, financing, supporting the separatists in waging war in the Donbas.\u00a0 I think what we\u2019ve seen in the last 24 hours is the further repudiation of Budapest by Russia.<\/p>\n

For our part, we have worked very hard over many years and especially over the last year to do everything we can to support Ukraine, to support its territorial integrity, its sovereignty, its independence through security assistance \u2013 in the last year alone more than in any previous year, humanitarian assistance, financial assistance.\u00a0 Just about 10 days ago, we provided an additional loan guarantee of a billion dollars to Ukraine.\u00a0 And of course, leading the effort internationally to build support for Ukraine in this hour of need.\u00a0 So we stand very much behind that support, support expressed in the Budapest Memorandum and doing everything that we can to uphold Ukraine\u2019s independence, its security, its well-being.<\/p>\n

FOREIGN MINISTER KULEBA:<\/strong>\u00a0 Budapest Memorandum is not a collective defense treaty, so the truth is that never, no one promised us they would fight for us if we are attacked.\u00a0 This is not the subject matter of the Budapest Memorandum.\u00a0 But this document was concluded on the premise that, first, countries who provided security assurances to Ukraine will themselves not use force against us; and second, if that happens, they will do their utmost to stop it.\u00a0 So this is exactly the \u2013 should be the subject of the consultations that Ukraine has initiated recently.<\/p>\n

Countries who belong to this legal and political field \u2013 space created by the Budapest Memorandum have to come together and reach an agreement on which specific action can they take to protect Ukraine.\u00a0 We understand that one of the signatories of the Budapest Memorandum is Russia, who, as Secretary Blinken rightly said, violated all possible international documents and agreements, but this does not waive other countries of their responsibilities to do their best in order to help Ukraine.\u00a0 Ukraine is a country that exists in a security vacuum.\u00a0 This is true.\u00a0 Our security guarantees are Ukrainian army and Ukrainian diplomacy.\u00a0 But we realize that.\u00a0 But we do believe that the decisions taken in 1994 when the memorandum was \u2013 Budapest Memorandum was concluded, they should be respected because we sacrificed a lot to \u2013 to make a long story short, we did a lot to strengthen global security by abandoning our nuclear arsenal.\u00a0 It was a huge contribution.\u00a0 And we expect on the principle of reciprocity an equally huge contribution to ensuring Ukraine\u2019s security.<\/p>\n

MR PRICE:<\/strong>\u00a0 Ben Hall, Fox News.<\/p>\n

QUESTION:<\/strong>\u00a0 Thank you.\u00a0 Thank you very much both for this today.<\/p>\n

Foreign Minister, there is a suggestion that what we\u2019ve seen so far is a minor invasion, that there\u2019s more to come, and so it only warrants sort of lesser U.S. sanctions.\u00a0 I wonder if that is your read as well.<\/p>\n

And also, you and President Zelenskyy called for tough sanctions to be placed on Russia before the invasion.\u00a0 You said this would happen if not.\u00a0 It has happened.\u00a0 Are you happy with that in mind with the way the U.S. has handled this?\u00a0 What more would you like to see from the U.S. and from the international community to try and deter more aggression?<\/p>\n

And Secretary Blinken, thank you.\u00a0 Given that Russia has invaded Ukraine, regardless of all the threats of harsh sanctions, the attempts at diplomacy, what makes you think that continuing down the same path is going to deter them any further?\u00a0 Do you think it\u2019s time to change tack?\u00a0 Do you think diplomacy has failed?\u00a0 And secondly, have you underestimated Putin?<\/p>\n

FOREIGN MINISTER KULEBA:<\/strong>\u00a0 First, there is no such thing as minor, middle, or major invasion.\u00a0 Invasion is an invasion.<\/p>\n

Second, as I said earlier, we do appreciate today\u2019s \u2013 the sanctions which were announced today.\u00a0 They target Russia.\u00a0 They\u2019re very specific.\u00a0 They are painful.<\/p>\n

I can say frankly that yesterday, when we learned about the first executive order to impose sanctions on \u2013 related to economic activities in the Donetsk \u2013 with Donetsk and Luhansk \u2013 we were puzzled, because we saw how the side that sought recognition from Russia is being punished, but we didn\u2019t see how Russia, who granted its recognition, is punished.\u00a0 But we saw it today.\u00a0 And this strategy of imposing sanctions by waves, if I may put it this way, is something that can work if it continues in a very sustained \u2013 in a sustainable way.<\/p>\n

President Putin should not have a single minute when he starts to think that this is the threshold, this is the ceiling, the pressure reached its ceiling, and he will not be punished any more.\u00a0 This pressure should continue to be stepped up, and if that involves regular issuance of executive orders on new sanctions, we will be more than happy to see that.<\/p>\n

I will repeat again:\u00a0 We can \u2013 despite the horrific address by President Putin where he basically challenged the very \u2013 or rejected \u2013 he didn\u2019t challenge it; he rejected the very existence of the Ukrainian state \u2013 we can still stop him if we act in a very resolved way and keep mounting pressure on him.\u00a0 The question is that he has a certain table in his mind, which I\u2019m not aware of, but I\u2019m sure he has it.<\/p>\n

And we should also understand that every next decision should be taken in a swift action.\u00a0 And we saw two executive orders issued by the President, by President Biden within what, less than 24 hours?\u00a0 This may be the dynamics that will have to be upheld if Russia continues to escalate.\u00a0 And it was encouraging to hear from Secretary a very simple sentence:\u00a0 If Russia escalates, the United States and partners will escalate sanctions.\u00a0 This is exactly the rule that has to be followed.<\/p>\n

And yes, we did believe that it would be helpful for some of sanctions \u2013 not all of sanctions, but some of sanctions \u2013 to be imposed before the invasion begins, as a preemptive measure, for what Russia had done before.\u00a0 But this question becomes obsolete now, and we have to focus on a different strategy, the one that I just described.<\/p>\n

SECRETARY BLINKEN:<\/strong>\u00a0 Ben, it\u2019s hard for me to improve much on my friend Dmytro\u2019s answer.\u00a0 I\u2019ll just add a couple of things.<\/p>\n

First, all along we said that we were pursuing two tracks \u2013 a track of diplomacy and dialogue to try to persuade Russia not to engage in renewed aggression against Ukraine; and at the same time, a track where we were building up deterrence, building up defense, and building a response that would have massive consequences for Russia.\u00a0 Russia\u2019s clearly chosen to reject diplomacy and dialogue, and instead to pursue aggression.\u00a0 As a consequence, we have started to pursue the severe consequences that we\u2019ve made clear would follow from any renewed Russian aggression.<\/p>\n

Today, faced with the beginning of Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine, we started high, and we\u2019ll stay high.\u00a0 The sanctions that we\u2019ve already announced go well beyond what we did in 2014 \u2013 full blocking sanctions against two of Russia\u2019s largest financial institutions, VEB and the military bank.\u00a0 These institutions hold more than $80 billion in assets.\u00a0 They provide key services that are critical to financing the Kremlin and Russia military.\u00a0 We have comprehensive sanctions against Russian sovereign debt.\u00a0 What that means is that we\u2019re cutting off the Russian Government from Western financing \u2013 sanctions on elites, on family members, and as promised, as we said all along, Germany taking action on Nord Stream 2.<\/p>\n

And to repeat what Dmytro just emphasized, we\u2019ve also made clear and we\u2019re making clear today that if Russia continues to escalate, so will we.\u00a0 And of course, it\u2019s not only the sanctions and other measures of that nature that are being taken.\u00a0 It is, as we have made clear, the reinforcement of NATO on its eastern flank, and continuing to provide and indeed increase the support that we\u2019re providing to Ukraine against every dimension \u2013 security, diplomatic, political, economic, humanitarian.\u00a0 All of that is in the mix.<\/p>\n

Ultimately, President Putin makes whatever decisions he makes.\u00a0 We can do everything in our power to try to shape those decisions.\u00a0 But as I\u2019ve said all along, whatever his decisions, we\u2019re prepared either way, and we\u2019ve demonstrated that again today in full coordination with allies and partners.<\/p>\n

QUESTION:<\/strong>\u00a0 Have you underestimated him?<\/p>\n

SECRETARY BLINKEN:<\/strong>\u00a0 Oh, I think to the contrary, we\u2019ve not underestimated him.\u00a0 We\u2019ve actually laid out for the world his entire playbook, a playbook that he is now following and is making very clear that, for example, what the President\u2019s laid out, what I laid out at the United Nations a week ago, is exactly what\u2019s happening.\u00a0 So we\u2019ve had a very clear-eyed view of President Putin all along.<\/p>\n

MR PRICE:<\/strong>\u00a0 We\u2019ll take a final question from Dmytro Anopchenko from Inter TV.<\/p>\n

QUESTION:<\/strong>\u00a0 Mr. Blinken, I\u2019m interested to hear your opinion about Normandy Format.\u00a0 After all what happened in Ukraine last night, may one tell that it will not work anymore and should be replaced like Ukraine proposed?<\/p>\n

And secondly, I got a question which may sound very naive, but it\u2019s a question of my audience in Ukraine, millions of people who are really scared, and if any one of them will be in my place, they will ask you:\u00a0 If Russian troops will move forward, or if they will start intense artillery fire hitting Ukrainian territory, on your understanding, what will happen next and what will America do?<\/p>\n

SECRETARY BLINKEN:<\/strong>\u00a0 Thank you.\u00a0 With regard to the Normandy Format, I think the question is best directed at President Putin.\u00a0 As far as we can see by the actions that he\u2019s taken, he\u2019s rejected it, and he\u2019s torn up in effect the Minsk Agreements, which the Normandy Format was designed to advance.\u00a0 So if Russia is at all serious about resolving the conflict that it created in the Donbas pursuant to the agreements it signed, the Minsk Agreements, it\u2019s of course showing exactly the opposite.\u00a0 So the question is really for President Putin.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve supported the Normandy Format all along with France, Germany, Ukraine, and Russia, working to implement the agreements.\u00a0 And throughout, Ukraine has worked very hard to make good on its commitments.\u00a0 Russia has done just the opposite.\u00a0 But what we\u2019ve seen now in the last 24 hours would seem to be the final repudiation of Minsk by Russia.\u00a0 But again, you would have to ask President Putin.<\/p>\n

With regard to what comes next, as I said a moment ago and as we\u2019ve said all along, if Russia pursues its aggression against Ukraine, it will face the massive consequences that not only the United States but virtually all of our allies and partners have made clear would follow.\u00a0 You\u2019ve heard this from the G7, the leading democratic economies in the world.\u00a0 You\u2019ve heard it from the European Union.\u00a0 You\u2019ve heard it from NATO.\u00a0 And that includes what we\u2019ve started with today, and that is very severe economic and financial sanctions that will exact significant costs from Russia.\u00a0 It includes a reinforcement of NATO and the defense of all Allies in NATO.\u00a0 And it includes additional assistance to Ukraine in every area: security, diplomatic, political, economic, humanitarian.\u00a0 All of that will follow.\u00a0 And again, I repeat what I\u2019ve said before:\u00a0 If and as Russia escalates, so will we.<\/p>\n

MR PRICE:<\/strong>\u00a0 Thank you, Mr. Secretary.\u00a0 Thank you, Mr. Minister.\u00a0 Thank you, everyone.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

02\/22\/2022 07:27 PM EST   Antony...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-45168","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-u-s-a","category-world"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45168","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=45168"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45168\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":45169,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45168\/revisions\/45169"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=45168"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=45168"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=45168"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}