VOA Interview John Kirby USAGM
Metadata
- VOA Interview John Kirby USAGM
- March 3, 2023
- VOA Interview National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby USAGM
- Content Type Interview
- Language English
- Transcript/Script MRT has transcribed VOA Interview / National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby. The video is located in Dalet at the following location: INCOMING FEEDS > Ad Hoc 4 > 2023/03/03 > Kirby Interview and in Frame.io at the following link: [VOA] Central Published > Central Friday 03-03 > MRT > VOA Interview / National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby. This video has also been saved to the Video Library for future use. DESCRIPTION: VOA White House Bureau Chief Patsy Widakuswara interviews John Kirby, National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications. Location: White House, North Lawn **Please note: timecodes are in recording time, not real time.** -- 00;00 VOA: Thank you, John for joining me today. President Biden is meeting with Chancellor Scholz. Obviously, both of them have met with President Zelenskyy, recently. They'll be comparing notes on their support for Ukraine. But will they also be speaking about pathways to peace? NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL COORDINATOR FOR STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS JOHN KIRBY: I think both of these leaders share the Ukrainians desire for peace. For a peace that is just, and fair, and sustainable. A peace that supports Ukraine's sovereignty and maintains their independence. And also, and this is important, and they both agree, that it's gotta be a peace that President Zelenskyy can sign on to, it's gotta be done in full consultation, full coordination with Ukrainians, otherwise there's no way it's going to ever really get off to a start, and it's not gonna be sustainable. VOA: You and many other officials have said that but I mean, as we can see, just last week, there were 10,000 people in Germany protesting sending arms to Ukraine, so there's definitely political pressure on Chancellor Scholz. Is the President concerned that this might create some sort of crack in NATO unity? KIRBY: No, the President is not at all concerned about a crack in allied unity. If you just look back at the last year, the Allies had been incredibly resilient, resolved, and unified in terms of supporting Ukraine and he's convinced, especially after coming home now, from meeting with the Bucharest nine, meeting with his counterpart in Poland and of course meeting with President Zelenskyy in Kyiv. He's even more convinced that that allied Unity will continue. Look, we're not taking anything for granted. We know we have to, you know, continue to work on providing the kinds of support to Ukraine that they need most. But he's confident that the allies are gonna be able to stay together. VOA: So I understand that Ukraine will be the focus, but will the President also make the argument that it is strategically risky for Germany to be so trade dependent on China, the same way it has proven to be risky for them to be so dependent on Russian gas? Will the President urge the chancellor to take a tougher stance against Beijing. KIRBY: Today's visit, right now, is really about how we can stay coordinated in supporting Ukraine. And I would point you to what Chancellor Scholz said yesterday in - to parliament in terms of his concerns about the potential for China to provide lethal weaponry to Russia. And his call that what China should be focusing on is convincing Russia to withdraw, to take their troops out of Ukraine. It's an illegal invasion to begin with. But as for economic practices, I mean, those are sovereign decisions that Chancellor Scholz has to make on behalf of the German people. 02;40 VOA: So on that note, on China potentially arming Russia, UN Ambassador Linda Thomas- Greenfield recently said that should China do this, that's a red line for the administration. How is the administration prepared to backup that threat? KIRBY: Well, I don't think it'd be helpful to get into hypotheticals at this point. You've heard Secretary Blinken talk about this. He's mentioned this privately with his counterpart, his Chinese counterpart, that clearly, we don't wanna see them move in this direction. They have not done so, though they haven't taken it off the table. And we have been very honest about the fact that there will be ramifications for doing that. Clearly at the very least, one of them is a blow to China's standing and international community. China has a choice to make, does it really wanna come down on the side of Putin. Does it really wanna assist Mr. Putin in killing innocent Ukrainians? Because that's what this kind of a move would be. And if China cares about their international standing, one would think they would find this not in their best interest. VOA: But lemme talk more about this name and shame strategy that you're doing. Right? I mean, this is what you did to Putin in the lead up of the Russian invasion. You said that you have intelligence to back this up, Putin's gonna do it and then he did it. You're doing the same thing with President Xi, saying that China could potentially arm Russia. But do you believe, if this strategy did not work to deter Putin from invading Ukraine, why would you believe that the strategy would work to deter Xi Jinping from helping Putin? I mean, I just don't see either of these men to be the type that could be easily shamed or intimidated. KIRBY: This isn't about shaming. It's about sharing our concerns privately with the Chinese, and also sharing those concerns publicly about indications that we see potentially that China might move in this direction. China has a choice to make. President Xi has a choice to make, and we strongly urge him to make the right choice here and not make it easier for Mr. Putin to kill innocent Ukrainian people. VOA: And that kind of approach you believe will be effective to deter? KIRBY: That's gonna be up to President Xi and the Chinese. VOA: Ok, we know now that Iran and North Korea have supplied arms to Russia, other than Belarus, what other third country could potentially be a conduit or a third party to funnel Chinese arms to Russia? KIRBY: Well that's a great question for Vladimir Putin, and I think that question should be posed to him. Who else is he reaching out to to try to get weapons and capabilities to continue the slaughter in Ukraine? We know that the Iranians are part and parcel of that effort, we know the North Koreans have provided at least, in some cases, artillery ammunition to the Wagner group, and I think President Putin should have to speak for who else is he reaching out to to continue these murderous ways." VOA: But surely you must be monitoring these countries, like for example, our sources point to potentially Myanmar as one of those countries. Are you seeing any intelligence that supports this? KIRBY: I don't have any other third party countries to speak to today. 05;34 VOA: Now moving on to Taiwan. We spoke yesterday about the $620 million arms sales to Taiwan. You said that this is in line with the Taiwan Relations Act, but do you also feel that this is part of the ways that the administration can help Taiwan prepare stocking up their munitions in case of a Chinese blockade? KIRBY: This is about helping Taiwan with their self defense capabilities, this latest arms sale, and specifically it's about Munitions for their F16 fighter aircraft. We work in lockstep with them about their needs, but it's very much in keeping with our commitment, both legally and quite frankly from a moral perspective to make sure that they have the sufficient self defense capabilities that they need. VOA: Okay and-- but what-- this timing, will this not also provide Beijing an excuse to funnel arms to Russia? KIRBY: Again, that's a question for President Xi. There should be no reason for him to want to provide arms to Russia. There should be no reason for him to want to help Mr. Putin kill innocent Ukrainian people. And that's what this would-- if they moved on that kind of a decision, that's what that would be. But again, you know, what's going into President Xi's calculus is really a question for him to decide. The Taiwan arms sales-- the Taiwan arms-- this is a separate process, a separate system, it's in keeping with our obligations under the Taiwan Relations Act, and our belief that we must continue to help Taiwan with their-- have sufficient self defense capabilities. This is separate and distinct from what's going on in Ukraine. 07;10 VOA: Moving on to Iran, is the administration now seeing Iran as a global threat rather than a regional menace? KIRBY: Iran has remained certainly a regional threat for quite some time and that continues. They are fomenting instability in the Levant, throughout the Middle East, they continue to support terrorist networks, they continue to threaten maritime traffic in the Gulf and beyond, and now they are directly impacting a war in Europe. So certainly they have stretched their benign, sorry, their malign impact well beyond the region. VOA: So do you consider them a global threat? KIRBY: I'm not going to characterize them one way or the other, I think other than saying they are a malign actor in the region, and they are now stretching that influence beyond the Middle East. The other part about this that is concerning, and we've talked about this, is that they seek Russian capabilities in return. So if that all comes to pass, then Iran has now-- would now then have the benefit of Russian capabilities, which makes them even more of a threat to our friends and partners in the Middle East. VOA: Any update on the poisoning of the Iranian school girls? You said yesterday that you don't know what the cause is? Do you know more at this point and also UNICEF has offered to help. Is the US prepared to offer the same? KIRBY: I'm afraid we don't have more information now about these reports of poisonings. They are deeply disturbing. We want the Iranian government, they say they're going to investigate. We want that investigation to be thorough, complete, and transparent with the Iranian people as well as the rest of the world. Little girls should not have to worry about their safety when they go to school, they should only have to worry about their grades." 08;50 VOA: Last question, John House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul says that the Biden administration failed to hold the Taliban accountable for abhorrent treatment of women and girls. He calls the visa restrictions as not enough and calls for more significant steps. What's your response? Are there any plans for more punishing steps for the Taliban? KIRBY: We are going to continue to try to hold the Taliban accountable for promises and commitments that they made when they took over in Kabul. We haven't recognized them as a legitimate government in Kabul. We certainly have no intention here in the near near term to do that. But if they want to be taken seriously, as they say they do, if they want the legitimacy that they can't get right now, then they need to meet those commitments. They need to fulfill the promises that they made about how they were going to treat women and girls in Afghanistan, and we're going to continue to watch this very closely.
- NewsML Media Topics Arts, Culture, Entertainment and Media
- Network VOA
- Embargo Date March 3, 2023 15:57 EST
- Brand / Language Service Voice of America - English