State of the Union: Interview With U.S. Secretary Of State Antony Blinken
Interview
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Well, Jake, you're right.
This is devastating.
And we reached out immediately to the Moroccan government to offer any assistance that we can provide. We have mobilized the government itself to be ready to provide that assistance. We have U.S. Agency for International Development, which takes the lead in these efforts, that is ready to go. And we await word from the Moroccan government to find out how we can help, where we can help.
But we're ready to go.
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Jake, the G20 countries in this statement all stood up for the importance of territorial integrity, sovereignty. And that's very clear. I was in the room when all the leaders spoke today with President
Biden, and it was very clear from everything that they said that not only do they want to see this war end, but they want to see it end on just and durable terms. And it was also very clear that the consequences of Russia's aggression are being felt throughout the G20 countries and throughout the developing world.
So, there was, I think, real clarity from the leaders in the room. And, again, the statement strongly affirms the proposition that this is about Ukraine's territorial integrity, its sovereignty, the principles that are at the heart of the United Nations Charter.
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No, I think it's very important that the G20 spoke as one.
I mean, to some extent, maybe it's the G19, because, obviously, Russia's also here. It's part of the G20. But the fact that we have a statement coming out collectively, again, affirming the importance of Ukraine, its territorial integrity, its sovereignty, that speaks loudly.
But what really speaks loudly, again, are the leaders in the room itself. And I think, if you are on the receiving end of what so many of them said, if you were in the Russian seat, it's pretty clear where the rest of the world stands.
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Look, this is a moving picture.
And I think it's very clear to us and to many in Congress that this additional assistance is something that Ukraine needs in this moment to continue to carry out the counteroffensive to regain its territory, as well as to strengthen its defense, its military going forward. It's not only the right thing to do. It's the smart and necessary thing to do in our own interests, because, as we have said from day one, if we allow this Russian aggression to go forward within impunity, it's not just Ukrainians who are suffering.
It's virtually everyone around the world who relies on the principles that are at the heart of the U.N. Charter, including that one big country can't simply trample on the borders of another, invade it and try to take it over, because, if we allow that to go forward with impunity, if we don't stand up against that, then it's open season everywhere around the world.
I have heard Leader McConnell speak very powerfully to this, other colleagues on the House side, like Chairman Mike McCaul of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
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So, we have had a strong bipartisan partnership with Congress throughout. I would expect that to continue.
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Jake, I can't speak to a specific episode.
Here's what I can tell you. Starlink has been a vital tool for the Ukrainians to be able to communicate with each other, and particularly for the military to communicate in their effort to defend all of Ukraine's territory. It remains so, and I would expect it to continue to be critical to their efforts.
So, what we would hope and expect is that that technology will remain fully available to the Ukrainians. It is vital to what they're doing.
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Jake, I can't speak to conversations that may or may not have happened. I don't know. I'm focused on the fact that the technology itself, Starlink, has been really important to the Ukrainians. It remains so. And it should continue to be part of what they're able to call on to be able to communicate with themselves and, again, to have the military be able to communicate.
Throughout this Russian aggression, we have -- we ourselves have always had to factor in what Russia may do in response to any given thing that we or others do or the Ukrainians do. And we have.
But what's so critical now is that Ukrainians had real success over the past year. I was just in Ukraine, as you know. The last time I was there was almost exactly a year ago. In that year, from the last time I was there until this week, the Ukrainians have retaken more than 50 percent of the territory seized by Russia since February of 2022.
They're now engaged in a critical counteroffensive. And we're doing everything we can to maximize our support for them, along with many other countries, so that they can be successful. Starlink is an important part of their success. And, as I said, we expect that it will continue to be so.
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Jake, I can't even begin to put myself in the shoes of those who lost their loved ones and who were acting so heroically and bravely.
I can't begin to imagine what they're feeling. I can just say that, if I were in their shoes, I'd probably feel exactly the same way. And we're determined, as an administration, to make sure that, for the entire duration of the war, including Abbey Gate, that we draw the lessons that we need to draw from it and act accordingly. And we will, and we are.
At the same time, the president made a very difficult, but very important decision to end America's longest war, 20 years. And we want to make sure, and, as a result of what the president did, we can make sure that we're not going to have another generation going to Afghanistan to fight and die there, as we had for 20 years.
So we did the right thing. But, of course, we will look very hard at everything, every aspect of the decisions that we made to make sure that we get it right every time going forward and that everyone who is involved feels that appropriate justice has been done to the sacrifice of their loved ones.
But, again, for me, I had a chance to see many of these families when we brought their loved ones home through Dover. And it's something that, again, I just can't fully put myself in their shoes. I have so much admiration for the extraordinary courage of service of Sergeant -- Sergeant Gee, Corporals Lopez, Espinoza, so many others.
They were extraordinary. But I will say one last thing. Like so many other people, I have been engaged, as you have, in the war in Afghanistan, Iraq over 20 years. And during that time, I was in government virtually the entire time. I was out at Dover repeatedly as we brought the remains of our servicemembers home.
I was in a C-17 with a flag-draped coffin coming back from one of those battlefields. I know the sacrifice of so many over so many years, and I know that, because President Biden ended America's longest war, that won't be the case going forward, that we will not, as I said, be sending another generation of Americans to fight and die there.
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Thanks, Jake.
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