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Transcript/Script US-Russia-Ukraine March 8
HEADLINE: Blinken Reassures Baltic Nations NATO Will Defend Them if Russia Attacks
TEASER: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has reassured U.S. allies in Europe that NATO’s commitment to defend them from any potential Russian attack is “sacrosanct”. PUBLISHED AT: Tuesday, 03/08/2022
BYLINE: Cindy Saine
CONTRIBUTOR:
DATELINE: Washington
VIDEOGRAPHER: Yan Boechat
PRODUCER:
SCRIPT EDITORS: BR, AP
VIDEO SOURCE (S): VOA, AFP, AP, Reuters
PLATFORMS (mark with X): WEB __ TV _x_ RADIO __
TRT: 2:31
VID APPROVED BY: Jepsen
TYPE: TVPKG
EDITOR NOTES: ))
((INTRO: ))
[[U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has assured all three Baltic nations that NATO will guarantee their security amid fears that Russian President Vladimir Putin might not stop his aggression in Ukraine. VOA's Senior Diplomatic Correspondent Cindy Saine reports from Washington.]]
((Video: 1.ORIGINAL VIDEO FROM YAN BOECHAT- f.io/ow5_AuAS ))
((NARRATOR))
As Russian forces continued to bomb Ukrainian towns and cities, civilians in some cities were able to evacuate Tuesday, fleeing in buses or on foot amid temporary cease-fires.
Here, hundreds of civilians fled the fighting on the north-western outskirts of Kyiv and crossed a river under a destroyed bridge to reach the capital. The United Nations says at least two million Ukrainians have already fled the country.
((VIDEO: MRT ENTRANCE B-ROLL OF BIDEN TUESDAY AT THE WH, OVER TO B-roll of Blinken and Estonia’s PM standing together, over to Estonian PM SOT in English: V000_324P9GM
SLUGRAW - ESTONIA - UKRAINE - RUSSIA - CONFLICT - US - BLINKEN - DIPLOMACY - ENERGY - KALLAS
Creation date3/8/2022
City/CountryTALLINN, ESTONIA
12. SOUNDBITE 5 - Kaja Kallas, Estonian Prime Minister (female, English, 32 sec))
In Washington, President Joe Biden announced a U.S. ban on Russian oil, gas and coal imports, while Secretary of State Antony Blinken continued his diplomatic push to coordinate with NATO allies in Europe. Blinken this week visited Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, whose leaders are worried about what Russian President Vladimir Putin might do next.
((Radio Intro: Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas))
((Kaja Kallas, Estonian Prime Minister)) [in English] "Considering that we are a border country to a very aggressive Russia, we need to enhance our defense posture. So far it has been deterrence posture, but we have to have it defense posture, what it means is that we have the troops, the capabilities but also the practice of all of them working together which means that we also need more military exercises on the ground that we see that it all works."
((Video: set-up B-roll of Blinken and the Estonian PM, Blinken SOUNDBITE 3 - Antony Blinken, US Secretary of State (male, English, 23 sec))
((NARRATOR))
Blinken sought to reassure leaders at each stop.
((Antony Blinken, Secretary of State)) "As President Biden said, we will defend every inch of NATO territory with the full force of our collective power. Our commitment to Article 5 is ironclad. An attack on one would be an attack on all. We and our NATO allies are prepared to meet any threat coming in our direction from wherever it comes."
((Video: B-roll of Blinken standing with Latvia’s FM, over to Blinken SOT: AFP V045_324M9GF
SLUG1ST - IMAGES - LATVIA - US - BLINKEN - RINKEVICS - RUSSIA - UKRAINE - DIPLOMACY - CONFLICT - NATO
Creation date3/7/2022 4. SOUNDBITE 1 - Antony Blinken, US Secretary of State (male, English, 12 sec))
((NARRATOR))
In Latvia, the secretary repeated his call to Russia.
((Antony Blinken, Secretary of State)) "There is certainly no change in our message to Moscow, our message to Russia, to President Putin: end the war, end it now."
((Video: Blinken’s car arriving to meet with the French FM in Paris, Le Drian welcomes Blinken: AFP V000_324Q6K6
SLUG1ST - IMAGES - FRANCE - US - RUSSIA - UKRAINE - DIPLOMACY - CONFLICT
Creation date3/8/2022))
((NARRATOR))
Blinken ended his diplomatic tour Tuesday with a stop in Paris to meet with French Foreign Minister Jean Yves Le Drian and President Emmanuel Macron to coordinate their trans-Atlantic response to try to end Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
((Cindy Saine, VOA News, Washington))
Yan Boechat contributed to this report.
NewsML Media TopicsArts, Culture, Entertainment and Media
NetworkVOA
Location (dateline)Washington D. C.
Embargo DateMarch 8, 2022 19:02 EST
BylineCindy Saine
Brand / Language ServiceVoice of America - English
