During a press briefing on Tuesday, State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller answered reporter questions on India's relationship with Russia.
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NewsTranscript
00:00You did say the Secretary would be meeting them,
00:01but just to clarify.
00:02No, no, not necessarily all of them.
00:03Secretary, others in the government.
00:05These are people who were invited
00:06to be in town that will be participating
00:08in different NATO events, some of the side events that go on.
00:11And some of those, there will be bilateral meetings
00:13that happen here, some at the White House,
00:15some at the Defense Department, the usual thing
00:16that happens on the margins of these types of summits.
00:18There's not one meeting organized around all of them.
00:20OK.
00:21I just don't think that was the correct answer.
00:24I would expect nothing less, Matt.
00:26So these are not all heads of state, right?
00:28No, I said these are four.
00:29I think I said four ministers.
00:31There were four heads of state from four countries.
00:33Heads of government.
00:35Yes.
00:35Thank you.
00:36Yeah, the head of state of Australia is Pan.
00:39Heads of state and heads of government, I should have.
00:41And in fact, the Australian prime minister is not coming.
00:44He's deputy.
00:45I should have said.
00:46The head of state of Pan is the emperor, not prime minister.
00:52So let's just say.
00:53I appreciate the correction.
00:56Look, you guys exist on protocol.
00:59It is a fair point.
01:00I very much take the point.
01:03So there will be bilateral meetings
01:05between the Secretary or other US officials
01:08and those countries where you'll talk about the future of Gaza.
01:11That's on the agenda.
01:12I can't say with every one of those countries
01:14that I listed who have been invited.
01:15But yes, with a number of those countries,
01:18there'll be meetings going on.
01:18Yes, that'll be part of the agenda.
01:20And are you hoping for the NATO as a whole
01:24to express some view on the conflict in Gaza,
01:29particularly are you expecting or are you
01:30hoping that NATO leaders will endorse a peace
01:36deal and hostage for peace?
01:38Let me defer that question until further in the week
01:41when we actually have to communicate.
01:44I know you don't want to get into a full assessment
01:48as to the ongoing talks for a ceasefire.
01:51But I do wonder if you could just
01:53help us understand how this moment is
01:56different than it has been in the past a little bit.
01:59It was about a month ago that Blinken
02:01said in the region that some of the changes
02:07that Hamas had put forth are workable and some are not.
02:11Is that still the case or has that changed?
02:15I really don't want to get into that in public,
02:21only because we've gotten to it in public.
02:23That was a different time.
02:25We're in the middle of some very intense negotiations
02:28over this right now.
02:28That was when we first received a response back from Hamas
02:31that we are characterizing it, that we are characterizing.
02:34We are in the middle of some pretty delicate, sensitive
02:37negotiations right now about a path forward.
02:39And I don't want to say anything that could potentially
02:41jeopardize those.
02:41So you can't say or you're not willing to say
02:45if Hamas has dropped any of its demands
02:47that were made about a month ago?
02:48I just don't want to speak to it at all.
02:50OK.
02:50And then I know we talked briefly
02:52about this yesterday with Modi visiting with Putin.
02:57But they did make some announcements, particularly
03:01with regard to continued agreements
03:05when it comes to energy and oil.
03:07And obviously, that is a key factor
03:10in fueling Russia's war in Ukraine.
03:14And so I just wonder how you guys respond to that.
03:16You've been previously a little bit reluctant to criticize
03:20India for importing Russian oil.
03:23So as I said yesterday, we have been
03:25quite clear about our concerns about India's relationship
03:28with Russia.
03:28We have expressed those privately, directly
03:30to the Indian government, and continue to do so.
03:34And that hasn't changed.
03:35Can I make a follow-up?
03:36Have you done so since this news has
03:39broken over the last 24 hours?
03:40We have had conversations with them in the past 24 hours.
03:42And I think I'll keep the contents of those private.
03:45Sure.
03:46Go ahead.
03:46Do you view the Modi-Putin hugging chemistry,
03:49as President Zelensky has seriously objected,
03:52saying it's a huge disappointment
03:55that the leader of the world's largest democracy
03:57hugs a bloody criminal in Moscow?
04:00This is a devastating blow to peace efforts.
04:03Will this create any impact on your trusted and strategic
04:06partnership with India?
04:07Well, as I said yesterday, we urge India,
04:10we continue to urge India, to support efforts
04:12to realize an enduring and just peace in Ukraine,
04:17based on the principles of the UN Charter,
04:19based on upholding Ukraine's territorial integrity
04:23and its sovereignty.
04:25And that will continue to be what we will engage with
04:27Ukraine, I'm sorry, what we will engage with India about.
04:30One on Bangladesh, if I may.
04:31Yeah, sure.
04:33As a recent public event, ruling Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina
04:37claimed that Nobel Laureate Professor Yunus was not
04:40the founder of the Grameen Bank.
04:41And that then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
04:45called her, regarding Professor Yunus,
04:47and this position, with many U.S. officials
04:50lobbying for Yunus and threatening her official.
04:53She also claimed that the U.S. lobbied the World Bank
04:56to cancel its funding for building of the Padma Bridge.
04:59Given the fact supporting Professor Yunus
05:01as the founder of the Grameen Bank,
05:05and the Prime Minister's assertion
05:06that she stopped meeting with U.S. officials
05:09while still trying to secure meeting
05:13with the U.S. officials and leadership,
05:15can the State Department confirm the accuracy
05:18of these claims made by the ruling Prime Minister?
05:20So I don't think I have any comment on that at all.
05:22I mean, it's been 12 years, I think,
05:24from doing, 12 years since Hillary Clinton
05:26was Secretary of State.
05:29No, I don't have any comment on that.
05:30Tom, go ahead.
05:32Tom, go ahead.
05:33I wanted to ask you about a story the BBC is reporting
05:35today about Diego Garcia, which is that
05:38the U.S. government has blocked a legal hearing
05:43on Diego Garcia, which was due to be attended
05:45by a British judge, British lawyers,
05:47for migrants who are trapped on the island,
05:50who describe themselves as being held
05:52in prison-like conditions, and also a BBC journalist
05:54stopped, effectively, by the U.S. from traveling there.
05:58Do you have any comment?
06:00So I did see that story.
06:02I looked into it, and I would refer you
06:03to the Pentagon for comment.
06:04It's been entirely a matter before the Pentagon,
06:06the State Department.
06:07I mean, it's thoroughly, it's our understanding
06:08in the reporting of this, in depth for a long time,
06:11that there is State Department involvement in this process.
06:14So I can tell you that I inquired about this
06:16before coming out to the briefing,
06:17and it is a Pentagon facility, it is a Pentagon matter.
06:20State Department often has some coordinating role,
06:22but it is predominantly, if not exclusively,
06:25a Pentagon matter, so I'd refer you to them for comment.
06:28They do have a briefing this afternoon, so I would.
06:29Okay, and could you say anything about security reasons
06:32which have been quoted, and if not,
06:34does the U.S. have anything to hide on Diego Garcia?
06:37I will not say anything about security reasons
06:38because that is a matter administered by the Pentagon,
06:40so it wouldn't be appropriate for me to do so.
06:42It's not something I know about,
06:42but it's certainly something they can speak to
06:44more appropriately than me.
06:45Do you have anything to hide on Diego Garcia?
06:47No, but I appreciate when I tell you
06:50that I can't speak to a matter
06:52that has nothing to do with my department.
06:54You continue to ask me.
06:55Well, I mean, as I say, it is our.
06:57Look, so hold on, there are,
06:59I'm not saying none of these are legitimate questions,
07:01but when you ask me a question like that,
07:03that you know I have nothing to say
07:05when it's a matter of, because.
07:06But you just said that.
07:07It's like, hold on, it's like coming and asking me
07:08about something the Agriculture Department did
07:10and saying, do I have anything to hide?
07:11No, but I don't have anything to say about it
07:13because it's not a State Department matter.
07:14It's a Defense Department matter.
07:15So I would encourage you, I would encourage you
07:17to go to their briefing and ask them questions about it.
07:19It's only you did concede in an answer
07:21that the State Department, in your words,
07:23may have a role in that as well, so.
07:24Some small coordinating role.
07:25It is largely, predominantly, if not exclusively,
07:31other than some small role that we often play as diplomats,
07:35a Department of Defense matter.
07:36So I would defer to that.
07:37I'd say more broadly, on the whole Chagos Island,
07:40the situation with the island is the State Department
07:43does play a major role in it
07:44because there is a diplomatic thing going.
07:48There's a dispute going on between the Brits
07:52and the Mauritius and the islanders.
07:57And you guys have taken a position.
07:59Do you have any guidance on what,
08:01whether that position has changed or not?
08:03I do not.
08:04In the past, it has been, this is an issue for those,
08:07for them to work out amongst themselves.
08:08I do not have any update on that question.
08:10Okay, and so while we're at it on the subject
08:13of British overseas island territories,
08:16how about the Falklands?
08:17Anything new on that?
08:18No, not that.
08:20No?
08:20And on that, New Caledonia, let's go to France,
08:23let's go to, you know.
08:25No, we can tour the entire world.
08:26I mean, on the issue of these dozens of migrants
08:28who are trapped, basically, in what they describe as,
08:30I mean, that is something that you can have a view on
08:33because it's something that we know
08:34factually has been happening.
08:35What is your?