Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks to reporters in Shannon, Ireland.
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00:00in their response officially, and are they willing to accept the ceasefire unconditionally?
00:06Well, I mean, we don't know the answer to the last question. That's what we want to know,
00:09whether they're prepared to do it unconditionally. We'll have contact with them today. There's
00:13already been contacts at different levels with counterparts, different members of the
00:17administration, and that'll continue. But as far as the Russian reaction to it, that's really the
00:24question here. And that is, you know, this is a few hours old. We're going to bring it to them
00:28directly. We're going to say that Ukraine is prepared to stop all battlefield activity and
00:35begin the immediate process of negotiating a enduring end to the war. And we'll see what
00:39their response is. If their response is yes, then we know we've made real progress and there's a
00:44real chance of peace. If their response is no, it would be highly unfortunate and it would make
00:49their intentions clear. So that's what we're hoping to hear from them. And obviously, as I said,
00:54this was not prearranged for them. So they're probably processing the news the same as the
01:00rest of the world. And so we hope to have a positive answer from them. The ball is truly
01:03in their court. Mr. Secretary, Nike Chun with Voice of America. What would be a good G7 joint
01:11statement on Russia and on China? Well, I think the perfect statement would be that the United
01:17States has done a good thing for the world in bringing this process forward. And now we all
01:23eagerly await the Russian response and urge them strongly to consider ending all hostilities
01:30so people will stop dying, so bullets will stop flying, and so a process can begin to find a
01:35permanent peace. I think the first step in all this is the acceptance that there is no military
01:40solution to this conflict. Neither side can militarily achieve their maximalist gains,
01:45their maximalist goals. Neither side can achieve them through the military side. The only way this
01:49conflict can end is through negotiation. That's the only way we're going to have peace, is through
01:54negotiation. And so we need to start that process. And it is hard to start a process when people are
01:59shooting at each other and people are dying. And so our hope is that we can stop that,
02:04all these hostilities, and get to a negotiating table where both sides over some period of time
02:10with a lot of hard work can find a mutually acceptable outcome that, in the case of Ukraine,
02:15obviously secures their long-term prosperity and security.
02:18Q Mr. Secretary, can you just update us on Mr. Whitkoff's plans for Moscow and whether he'll
02:24be meeting with President Putin? And then separately, if you wouldn't mind elaborating
02:27on something that Mr. Waltz said yesterday about the specifics that you discussed with the
02:31Ukrainians about what the end of the war would look like. You had mentioned we're not going to
02:35get maps out and draw lines, but did you actually talk about territorial concessions?
02:39SECRETARY POMPEO We had conversations. As far as Steve's trip,
02:43I'm not here to – I can't – I'm not going to make any announcements about specific dates,
02:46times, or even confirm such a trip. Suffice it to say there's going to be
02:50multiple points of contact with the Russians to gauge are they willing to do this or not.
02:56And as far as the conversations that were yesterday, yeah, when you sit down with a counterpart like
03:02Ukraine, we're not going to negotiate this publicly. We're not going to actually put out
03:07there sort of what we talked about, because in any negotiation there's certainly an element where
03:12you don't want one side to be giving away all this leverage from a public perspective.
03:16We had a broad conversation about what it would – but I think the bulk of our conversation was
03:22what a negotiation process would look like in terms of not the specific conditions,
03:27but rather the timing of it, sort of the steps they would like to see taken.
03:30The Ukrainians made very clear that this isn't just about ending a war. They need to get their
03:34prisoners of war back. They need to get the children back. They'd like to see an exchange
03:39of prisoners of war. They'd like to see their children back. So there's all sorts of things
03:43tied to the humanitarian assistance is important as well. There are areas of Ukraine that have been
03:48badly damaged that require immediate assistance. So these are the sorts of things that we talked
03:53about as being inclusive in the negotiation process. So really, the bulk of our conversation
03:58when we got to that stage of it was discussing the kinds of items that need to be on a
04:03negotiation agenda even when we hopefully get there.
04:06MR PRICE He also mentioned security guarantees,
04:08which is something that there has been some reluctance for the administration to elaborate on.
04:12Have you – are you committing to security guarantees?
04:14MR HOOKER Well, I think the point – no,
04:15the point to understand is that we're looking at is securing their long-term – what we want to see,
04:19like any country in the world, Ukraine wants their long-term security. They want to make
04:23sure that this doesn't happen, and we all do. What is the point of spending all this time
04:27to get a ceasefire, hopefully, and then a negotiated end to the war,
04:31only to see it re-spark up again in about six years, four years, three years? No one's – we're
04:35not interested in that, and they certainly aren't either. So I think the question really
04:39is more about a deterrence. Can Ukraine create a sufficient deterrent against future aggression,
04:45against future attack, against future invasion? Because every country in the world has a right
04:49to defend themselves, and no one can dispute that. So that will most certainly have to be
04:53part of the conversation. But again, I don't think there's – there isn't a peace to secure
04:58until you have a peace. But there's no way to have an enduring peace without the deterrence
05:02peace being a part of it. Can I just follow up on that? Yes. Because the joint statement
05:08talks about European partners being involved in the peace process, but that's only attributed to
05:13the Ukrainian delegation. There doesn't appear to be U.S. support for that line. Well, I think
05:17what it says in the statement is that they raised the need for the Europeans. But I've already said
05:21publicly the Europeans have issued a series of sanctions against the Russian Federation,
05:25and I would imagine that in any negotiation, if we get there hopefully with the Russians,
05:30that they will raise these European – the European sanctions that have been imposed upon
05:37them. So I think that the issue of European sanctions are going to be on the table,
05:41not to mention what happens with the frozen assets and the like. And so I think it's self-evident
05:45that for there to be a peace in Ukraine, at the end of that process there's going to have to be
05:51some decision made by the Europeans about what they're going to do with these sanctions and so
05:56forth. And so that's why I think they have to be necessarily involved in this regard.
06:00Now, whether they're involved at the front end of it or at the back end of it, it'll have to
06:03play itself out. And then obviously there's also all sorts of security promises that European
06:10countries have made to Ukraine, that that will also be, I imagine, a part of this conversation
06:14as we move forward. So we don't disagree with that statement. I think the statement just reflects
06:18that they raised it.
06:18But you back peacekeepers – European peacekeepers in Ukraine,
06:21which is something Russia is categorically –
06:22Well, we'll see. I mean, there's way – there's different ways to – there's different ways to
06:28construct a deterrent on the ground that prevents another war from starting in the future.
06:32We're not going to go in with any sort of preconceived notion. The bottom line is it
06:36needs to be something that makes Ukraine feel as if they can deter and prevent a future invasion.
06:42How that looks and how that's put together, that's what we're going to be talking about.
06:45If we can get to that stage – again, right now we're just trying to get to the stage where
06:49there's actual diplomacy happening. Here's what we'd like the world to look like in a few days.
06:54Neither side is shooting at each other – not rockets, not missiles, not bullets,
06:58nothing, not artillery. The shooting stops, the fighting stops, and the talking starts.
07:03That's what we want to see. What happens during that talking and how that evolves,
07:07I think we're going to have to be flexible and nimble and creative and patient and work hard
07:11at it and hopefully turn it into something that's concrete. You've covered – many of you have
07:16covered foreign policy for years. That's how these things happen, and they're not easy,
07:20and sometimes they're difficult to predict which way they're going to go in terms of
07:23the specifics of it. But we just want to get to that stage. That would be,
07:28for lack of a better term, a good problem to have, to have to figure out how to negotiate
07:32a peace because we're actually negotiating a peace while the shooting has stopped.
07:36Is the mineral deal essentially the security guarantee that you guys envision? And then
07:39the second question is, President Trump appealed to a lot of Americans during his campaign on free
07:46speech arguments and not suppressing speech, especially from the government. But your
07:53revocation of the green card to many is seen as one of the most anti-speech actions a Secretary
08:00can take with his powers. How do you respond? Yeah, I mean, the first question was, again,
08:04the – Is the minerals deal the version of the security guarantee?
08:08Well, I think that a minerals deal is something that I think is beneficial for both countries.
08:14Certainly one of the things that provides for Ukraine's long-term prosperity and security
08:21is vibrant economic growth and development. Their GDP begins to grow, and that gives them
08:26a tremendous amount of leverage and power and the ability to fund their own defenses.
08:30So I think certainly any economic development for Ukraine is positive for their own future.
08:35Obviously, if the United States has a vested economic interest somewhere,
08:38we're tied to them on an economic front, we're in partnership with them on something,
08:42we will have an interest in the future of Ukraine as well. I wouldn't couch it as a
08:46security guarantee, but certainly if the United States has a vested economic interest that's
08:51generating revenue for our people as well as for the people of Ukraine, we'd have a vested
08:56interest in protecting it if it were to be challenged or threatened.
08:59On your first point, when you enter the – this is an important point, and I'm glad you asked
09:03this question. When you come to the United States as a visitor, which is what a visa is,
09:07which is how this individual entered this country, on a visitor's visa, okay, you are here as a
09:13visitor. We can deny you that visa. We can deny you that – if you tell us when you apply,
09:18hi, I'm trying to get into the United States on a student visa, I am a big supporter of Hamas,
09:22a murderous, barbaric group that kidnaps children, that rapes teenage girls, that takes
09:28hostages, that allows them to die in captivity, that returns more bodies than live hostages.
09:33If you tell us that you are in favor of a group like this, and if you tell us when you apply for
09:37your visa – and by the way, I intend to come to your country as a student and rile up all kinds
09:42of anti-Jewish student, anti-Semitic activities. I intend to shut down your universities. If you
09:47told us all these things when you applied for a visa, we would deny your visa. I hope we would.
09:51If you actually end up doing that, once you're in this country on such a visa, we will revoke it.
09:57And if you end up having a green card, not citizenship, but a green card as a result of
10:01that visa while you're here in those activities, we're going to kick you out. It's as simple as
10:05that. This is not about free speech. This is about people that don't have a right to be in
10:08the United States to begin with. No one has a right to a student visa. No one has a right to
10:13a green card, by the way. So when you apply for a student visa or any visa to enter the United
10:18States, we have a right to deny you for virtually any reason. But I think being a supporter of Hamas
10:23and coming into our universities and turning them upside down and being complicit in what are
10:28clearly crimes of vandalization, complicit in shutting down learning institutions. There are
10:32kids at these schools that can't go to class. You pay all this money to these high-priced schools
10:37that are supposed to be of great esteem, and you can't even go to class. You're afraid to go to
10:41class because these lunatics are running around with covers on their face, screaming terrifying
10:46things. If you told us that's what you intended to do when you came to America, we would have
10:49never let you in. And if you do it once you get in, we're going to revoke it and kick you out.
10:54Can I ask you about the Canada trip coming up? The president has taunted, if you will,
10:59Canada calling it the 51st state, calling Prime Minister Trudeau governor.
11:02It should become the 51st state from an economic standpoint. He says if they became the 51st state,
11:06we wouldn't have to worry about the border and fentanyl coming across because now we would be
11:10able to manage that. He's made an argument that it's their interest to do so. Obviously,
11:14the Canadians don't agree, apparently. Do you agree with that? Are you ever going to discuss
11:17that? Well, that's not what we're going to discuss at the G7, and that's not what we're
11:21going to be discussing in our trip here. They're the host nation, and we have a lot of other things
11:28we work on together. We defend North America through NORAD and the airspace of our continent
11:33together, not to mention the issues of Ukraine and other commonalities. So we're going to be
11:38focused in the G7 on all of those things. That's what the meeting is about. It is not a meeting
11:42about how we're going to take over Canada. I don't know. Should I be? What do you know that
11:51I don't know? Yeah. So what's your point?
12:12I mean, they've invited us to come. We intend to go. The alternative is to not go. I think that
12:17would actually make things worse, not better. So it's a G7 summit.
12:21Alternative could be not to have tariffs or not to have the language of the President.
12:24No, those are policy decisions. And so at the end of the day, the President has made those
12:27decisions. He's explained why. It's not just against Canada. It's not just against Mexico.
12:32It's not just against G7 countries. He's imposed steel and aluminum tariffs now
12:36on virtually the entire world. And the reason why is not to punish those countries.
12:40It's because he has outlined the need to develop a domestic capability.
12:43If you don't have steel and aluminum, you can't build warships. You can't build airplanes.
12:48And you're not an industrial economy. There are things we have to be able to protect.
12:52And there's a lot of unfair trade practices. A lot of countries out there who subsidize
12:55their industries so that they can gain global market share. So they subsidize the industries.
13:01They're operating at a loss. Meanwhile, our industries are trying to compete fairly.
13:05And that's why you don't have steel plants. And that's why you can't produce the aluminum.
13:08And that really threatens our national security in the long term. So these are national security
13:12concerns when it comes to steel and aluminum and some of these other products. But ultimately,
13:16the President feels strongly, and I personally agree, that we have made some decisions when
13:20it comes to trade policies that have led to the deindustrialization of America and have left us
13:25deeply vulnerable to any sort of interruptions in global supplies and or being used to extort us,
13:32not to mention our inability to produce things that we need for our own economy and for our own
13:36defense. So that's what those policies are about. Every country in the world, we expect,
13:40will act in their national interest. The United States forgot that. President Trump is reminding
13:45us of that and getting us back to that. And I think it is quite possible that we could do these
13:50things and at the same time deal in a constructive way with our allies and friends and partners
13:56on all the other issues that we work together on. And that's what I expect out of the G7 in Canada.
14:01Can I just ask on Russia, did you have or Waltz have any contact with Zelensky while you were in
14:05Saudi Arabia? No, I didn't. I don't believe Mr. Waltz did either, but I did not. But that was
14:12the team he selected and it was appropriate. It was his closest advisor. It was their foreign
14:16minister. It was their head of security. So we felt that that was the counterparts they sent
14:21and to deal with us. And that's obviously pretty common in these sorts of things. Generally,
14:28heads of state meets heads of state and appropriate counterparts meet others.
14:32I imagine he had to get back and he's the president of a wartime country. But we did not
14:38have any contact with him there, but I wouldn't read anything into it other than he selected his
14:44team for these talks and the president selected his. And was there any discussion with the
14:48Ukrainians about how a ceasefire, if Russia agrees, would be enforced and how would the U.S.
14:53ensure part of it? Well, the interesting thing about modern warfare is it's easier than ever
14:58to monitor. And simply because there's so many eyes on the ground and there's also all sorts
15:02of overhead, commercial satellite and the like, it would be pretty hard to hide drone strikes. It
15:06would be hard to hide missile strikes, ballistic strikes, artillery. So we feel like that is
15:11something that could be monitored. Obviously, if in fact the Russians say yes, let's hope they say
15:15yes. If they say yes, one of the things we'll have to determine is who do both sides trust
15:21to be on the ground to sort of monitor some of the small arms fires and exchanges that could
15:26happen. But those are practices that have become common in these, and I don't think that would
15:32be difficult to set up. We didn't get into specifics, but obviously the need to monitor
15:36a ceasefire is clear to everyone. Sir, just a quick follow-up on this question.
15:41This is it. You have to get back on the plane. Sir, this administration has not hesitated to
15:50put a lot of pressure on Ukraine. You reduced their intelligence support in the middle of a
15:53shooting war. You temporarily cut off their arms, criticized them publicly. Not you, but
16:00leadership in public. Are you truly prepared to apply pressure on Russia should it be recalcitrant
16:08and not agree to the terms of the ceasefire? There's been no concrete action that this
16:13administration has taken to punish Russia since it's come to office. Well, a couple points.
16:18To be clear, as far as I am aware, the United States has not provided armaments to Russia.
16:23The United States is not providing assistance to Russia. Every single sanction that has been
16:29imposed on Russia remains in place. Every single sanction the President inherited has remained in
16:34place. Right, but well, I mean, they're pretty sanctioned up. I mean, there's a lot of sanctions
16:40already. So my point being is that there's been no steps taken to relieve any of these things.
16:46These things continue to be in place. But we don't think it's constructive for me to stand
16:50here today and begin to issue threats about what we're going to do if Russia says no. Let's hope
16:54they say yes. At the end, let's understand, I remind everybody and bring you back to the point,
16:58the President's desire here is to bring about a lasting and enduring peace in Ukraine. He wants
17:04the shooting and the fighting to stop, not just for 30 days, not just for 60 days, but permanently.
17:09To do that, both sides have to come to the table. We are happy. We are happy that the
17:14Ukrainians have agreed to do so. Now it is up to Russia to say yes. If Russia says yes,
17:20that's very good news, and we will begin that process and do everything we can to move that
17:24process forward. If they say no, then obviously we'll have to examine everything and sort of
17:30figure out where we stand in the world and what their true intentions are. I think it'll be – if
17:33they say no, it'll tell us a lot about what their goals are and what their mindset is. But I don't
17:39want to go into that before they've even answered us by issuing statements that are abrasive in any
17:45way. Our hope is that when we met with them last, they expressed a willingness under the right
17:49conditions, without elaborating on the right conditions, to bring an end to this conflict.
17:54That was our question when we met with them. I think I shared it with you that we're on our trip.
17:57The point of meeting with them was to find out, is this a war they wanted to end,
18:01or is this a war they just wanted to continue in perpetuity until they achieved whatever goals
18:05they have in mind. And they expressed a willingness under the right circumstances,
18:09which they did not define, to bring an end to this conflict. So we have Ukraine ready to come
18:14to the table. Now we need to get Russia to come to the table. If they do and the shooting stops,
18:18I think that's a very good day in the world. Obviously, no one here is pretending that that
18:22negotiation is going to be easy or fast or simple, but at least we've gotten to that point.
18:27If their answer is no, then obviously we'll have to deal with that, and we'll have to – we'll
18:31have to, at that point, make decisions on that basis. We're not there yet. Hopefully the answer
18:36is yes. Okay. Thanks, guys.