1 00:00:00,240 --> 00:00:04,110 afternoon . Normally I get a good 2 00:00:04,110 --> 00:00:06,166 afternoon back but I guess we're all 3 00:00:06,166 --> 00:00:09,560 tired . Yeah . Yeah . 4 00:00:11,040 --> 00:00:14,880 All right . Uh I have a 5 00:00:14,890 --> 00:00:18,790 couple of things at the top today today . 6 00:00:18,790 --> 00:00:20,901 I can announce that the United States 7 00:00:20,901 --> 00:00:22,679 has commenced training with the 8 00:00:22,679 --> 00:00:24,790 Ukrainian armed forces on key systems 9 00:00:24,790 --> 00:00:26,846 at U . S . Military installations in 10 00:00:26,846 --> 00:00:28,901 Germany . These efforts build on the 11 00:00:28,901 --> 00:00:30,679 initial artillery training that 12 00:00:30,679 --> 00:00:33,040 Ukraine's forces already have received 13 00:00:33,050 --> 00:00:35,770 elsewhere and also includes training on 14 00:00:35,870 --> 00:00:38,037 the radar systems and armored vehicles 15 00:00:38,037 --> 00:00:40,092 that have been recently announced as 16 00:00:40,092 --> 00:00:42,314 part of security assistance packages US 17 00:00:42,314 --> 00:00:44,314 Army Europe and Africa Command will 18 00:00:44,314 --> 00:00:46,481 organize this training in coordination 19 00:00:46,481 --> 00:00:48,426 with the government of the Federal 20 00:00:48,426 --> 00:00:48,020 Republic of Germany . And we're 21 00:00:48,020 --> 00:00:49,964 grateful of course , for Germany's 22 00:00:49,964 --> 00:00:52,690 continued support . As you recall in 23 00:00:52,690 --> 00:00:54,579 february , out of an abundance of 24 00:00:54,579 --> 00:00:57,070 caution . Secretary ordered the 25 00:00:57,070 --> 00:01:00,750 temporary repositioning Of about 160 26 00:01:00,750 --> 00:01:02,861 members of the Florida National Guard 27 00:01:02,861 --> 00:01:04,750 who are then supporting the joint 28 00:01:04,750 --> 00:01:07,050 multinational training group Ukraine . 29 00:01:07,540 --> 00:01:09,810 And we said at the time that this 30 00:01:09,810 --> 00:01:11,870 decision was not the end of our 31 00:01:11,870 --> 00:01:14,120 relationship with Ukraine of course . 32 00:01:14,440 --> 00:01:16,662 And with that we would explore new ways 33 00:01:16,662 --> 00:01:18,910 to work together in the future . The 34 00:01:18,910 --> 00:01:21,290 recent reunion now of these florida 35 00:01:21,290 --> 00:01:23,179 National Guard members with their 36 00:01:23,179 --> 00:01:25,346 Ukrainian colleagues , we are told was 37 00:01:25,346 --> 00:01:27,457 an emotional meeting given the strong 38 00:01:27,457 --> 00:01:29,457 bonds that were formed as they were 39 00:01:29,457 --> 00:01:31,401 living and working together before 40 00:01:31,401 --> 00:01:33,568 temporarily parting ways in february . 41 00:01:33,740 --> 00:01:35,962 This new training effort in Germany and 42 00:01:35,962 --> 00:01:37,907 at other locations in europe is in 43 00:01:37,907 --> 00:01:40,010 direct support of recent U . S . 44 00:01:40,010 --> 00:01:42,121 Security assistance packages that are 45 00:01:42,121 --> 00:01:44,066 designed to help Ukraine win their 46 00:01:44,066 --> 00:01:46,121 battles today and build strength for 47 00:01:46,121 --> 00:01:48,400 tomorrow . These new systems and the 48 00:01:48,410 --> 00:01:50,370 associated training that will 49 00:01:50,370 --> 00:01:52,592 strengthen Ukraine's ability to counter 50 00:01:52,592 --> 00:01:54,703 Russia's renewed offensive in Eastern 51 00:01:54,703 --> 00:01:57,360 Ukraine Since 2021 , the United States 52 00:01:57,360 --> 00:02:00,110 has committed more than $4.3 billion 53 00:02:00,110 --> 00:02:01,999 dollars in security assistance to 54 00:02:01,999 --> 00:02:04,110 support Ukraine's armed forces in the 55 00:02:04,110 --> 00:02:06,221 face of Russian aggression . And as I 56 00:02:06,221 --> 00:02:08,443 have said before , we should not forget 57 00:02:08,443 --> 00:02:10,630 the importance of this long term 58 00:02:10,640 --> 00:02:12,862 training relationship where today we're 59 00:02:12,862 --> 00:02:14,807 talking about the florida National 60 00:02:14,807 --> 00:02:17,540 Guard . But as you all know better than 61 00:02:17,540 --> 00:02:19,990 me , they were preceded by others of 62 00:02:19,990 --> 00:02:22,046 their colleagues going back over the 63 00:02:22,046 --> 00:02:24,212 last eight years . And so while we are 64 00:02:24,212 --> 00:02:26,470 rightly focused on the security 65 00:02:26,470 --> 00:02:28,637 assistance that's going into Ukraine , 66 00:02:28,637 --> 00:02:31,150 we shouldn't forget that a big part of 67 00:02:31,150 --> 00:02:33,261 Ukraine's soldier's ability to defend 68 00:02:33,261 --> 00:02:35,428 their country as well as they have has 69 00:02:35,428 --> 00:02:37,650 been the training that they have gotten 70 00:02:37,650 --> 00:02:39,650 over the past eight years that have 71 00:02:39,650 --> 00:02:41,706 really sort of helped transform them 72 00:02:41,706 --> 00:02:43,930 off of soviet doctrine and and soviet 73 00:02:43,940 --> 00:02:46,030 area organization . They are , they 74 00:02:46,030 --> 00:02:48,197 have better command and control . They 75 00:02:48,197 --> 00:02:50,252 have better battlefield initiative . 76 00:02:50,252 --> 00:02:52,363 They have a competent noncommissioned 77 00:02:52,363 --> 00:02:54,530 officer corps that is empowered on the 78 00:02:54,530 --> 00:02:56,363 field of battle to make tactical 79 00:02:56,363 --> 00:02:58,141 decisions that didn't happen by 80 00:02:58,141 --> 00:03:00,308 accident . And so we're grateful to be 81 00:03:00,308 --> 00:03:00,090 able to restart some of this training 82 00:03:00,090 --> 00:03:02,090 on these key systems that are going 83 00:03:02,090 --> 00:03:04,890 forward um and uh and to keep improving 84 00:03:04,890 --> 00:03:08,490 their battlefield competence . Um Now I 85 00:03:08,490 --> 00:03:11,190 also have a couple of other schedule 86 00:03:11,190 --> 00:03:14,650 items to uh briefed you . The Japanese 87 00:03:14,660 --> 00:03:16,771 Defense Minister Kishi will travel to 88 00:03:16,771 --> 00:03:18,882 the United States from May 3rd to the 89 00:03:18,882 --> 00:03:20,993 sixth and he'll have a chance to meet 90 00:03:20,993 --> 00:03:23,160 with Secretary Austin on the fourth of 91 00:03:23,160 --> 00:03:25,160 May . Items on the agenda of course 92 00:03:25,160 --> 00:03:27,382 include Ukraine . We were grateful that 93 00:03:27,440 --> 00:03:30,590 Japan was represented in that 40 plus 94 00:03:30,590 --> 00:03:32,590 meeting the consultative meeting in 95 00:03:32,590 --> 00:03:34,646 Ramstein earlier this week . They'll 96 00:03:34,646 --> 00:03:36,812 talk about china of course North Korea 97 00:03:36,812 --> 00:03:38,979 uh and defense cooperation initiatives 98 00:03:38,979 --> 00:03:40,812 to strengthen the deterrence and 99 00:03:40,812 --> 00:03:42,923 response capabilities of the Japan US 100 00:03:42,923 --> 00:03:44,923 alliance key . She will also have a 101 00:03:44,923 --> 00:03:46,923 chance to visit the missile Defense 102 00:03:46,923 --> 00:03:48,923 Agency and U . S . Cyber Command to 103 00:03:48,923 --> 00:03:50,923 exchange views on ballistic missile 104 00:03:50,923 --> 00:03:52,923 defense and cyber cooperation . And 105 00:03:52,923 --> 00:03:55,600 then lastly , on Wednesday 25 May , 106 00:03:55,840 --> 00:03:57,618 Secretary Austin will travel to 107 00:03:57,618 --> 00:03:59,396 Colorado Springs to deliver the 108 00:03:59,396 --> 00:04:01,507 commencement address at the Air Force 109 00:04:01,507 --> 00:04:03,618 Academy this year . He's very excited 110 00:04:03,618 --> 00:04:05,840 to get this opportunity to speak to the 111 00:04:05,840 --> 00:04:07,760 cadets as they begin in brand new 112 00:04:07,760 --> 00:04:09,800 careers as officers in the United 113 00:04:09,800 --> 00:04:12,150 States Air Force . Uh , and with that 114 00:04:12,640 --> 00:04:16,460 questions , leader john um , 115 00:04:16,470 --> 00:04:19,170 you uh flush out the training decision 116 00:04:19,170 --> 00:04:23,070 a little more . Um , this is the same 117 00:04:23,070 --> 00:04:25,126 unit that was pulled out but largely 118 00:04:25,126 --> 00:04:27,014 other than maybe one of these two 119 00:04:27,014 --> 00:04:29,070 cities that might have swapped . But 120 00:04:29,070 --> 00:04:31,237 this is essentially the same unit that 121 00:04:31,237 --> 00:04:31,080 got pulled out . That's correct . They 122 00:04:31,090 --> 00:04:34,010 did not leave europe . And then um are 123 00:04:34,010 --> 00:04:36,370 they doing the bulk of the training or 124 00:04:36,370 --> 00:04:38,850 are they being supplemented by other U . 125 00:04:38,850 --> 00:04:40,790 S . Forces on some of the other 126 00:04:40,790 --> 00:04:44,060 training , my honorable locations ? Or 127 00:04:44,070 --> 00:04:46,348 is it consolidated ? Can you give us a , 128 00:04:46,348 --> 00:04:48,348 my understanding is the bulk of the 129 00:04:48,348 --> 00:04:50,459 training on these new systems will be 130 00:04:50,459 --> 00:04:52,514 done by the florida National Guard . 131 00:04:52,514 --> 00:04:54,570 But I don't want to preclude the the 132 00:04:54,570 --> 00:04:56,570 option that on on systems coming in 133 00:04:56,570 --> 00:04:58,720 that uh that we might provide 134 00:04:58,730 --> 00:05:01,320 additional training capabilities that 135 00:05:01,320 --> 00:05:03,153 maybe the florida National Guard 136 00:05:03,153 --> 00:05:05,264 doesn't have . So they'll do the bulk 137 00:05:05,264 --> 00:05:07,431 of it . But I'm not gonna go so far as 138 00:05:07,431 --> 00:05:09,653 to say that all of it will be done just 139 00:05:09,653 --> 00:05:11,820 by the florida National Guard . Um and 140 00:05:11,820 --> 00:05:15,630 um what I can tell you is that uh we're 141 00:05:15,630 --> 00:05:18,150 talking about roughly um three 142 00:05:18,150 --> 00:05:21,940 locations outside of of 143 00:05:21,940 --> 00:05:25,680 Ukraine and in this case we definitely 144 00:05:25,690 --> 00:05:29,550 can identify Germany uh as a site , 145 00:05:29,940 --> 00:05:31,829 but there are other sites outside 146 00:05:31,829 --> 00:05:33,996 Ukraine . And uh and we're just not at 147 00:05:33,996 --> 00:05:36,051 liberty to disclose where they are . 148 00:05:36,140 --> 00:05:38,400 Those sites could change over time . 149 00:05:38,410 --> 00:05:40,632 Either either we move to different ones 150 00:05:40,632 --> 00:05:42,632 or we add additional ones , we just 151 00:05:42,632 --> 00:05:45,520 don't know , but but training has 152 00:05:45,520 --> 00:05:47,576 already occurred outside Ukraine and 153 00:05:47,576 --> 00:05:49,520 particularly on the howitzers . Um 154 00:05:49,520 --> 00:05:51,576 there's another class going on right 155 00:05:51,576 --> 00:05:53,464 now on howitzers . Uh in fact two 156 00:05:53,464 --> 00:05:55,687 different tranches are being trained on 157 00:05:55,687 --> 00:05:58,280 howitzers right now , one of them we 158 00:05:58,280 --> 00:06:02,220 can confirm is in is in Germany . So um 159 00:06:02,230 --> 00:06:04,390 we want to make this as nimble and as 160 00:06:04,390 --> 00:06:06,500 agile as we can and we also want to 161 00:06:06,500 --> 00:06:08,056 make it not only useful and 162 00:06:08,056 --> 00:06:10,410 constructive for the Ukrainians but not 163 00:06:10,420 --> 00:06:12,476 onerous , you know that it doesn't , 164 00:06:12,476 --> 00:06:14,800 that it's not so time consuming um that 165 00:06:14,800 --> 00:06:16,856 it takes them out of their fight for 166 00:06:16,856 --> 00:06:18,880 for too long as you might imagine . 167 00:06:18,880 --> 00:06:20,824 These these soldiers are , they're 168 00:06:20,824 --> 00:06:22,824 eager to learn these new skills but 169 00:06:22,824 --> 00:06:24,936 they're also eager to apply those new 170 00:06:24,936 --> 00:06:27,102 skills in the conflict . And just what 171 00:06:27,102 --> 00:06:29,810 clarification has that florida unit 172 00:06:29,810 --> 00:06:32,400 been extended as as you know , some 173 00:06:32,410 --> 00:06:34,466 have not been redeployed . There has 174 00:06:34,466 --> 00:06:37,150 been no extension decision made on the 175 00:06:37,250 --> 00:06:39,583 International Guard as you might recall , 176 00:06:39,583 --> 00:06:42,210 lita They arrived in Ukraine at the 177 00:06:42,210 --> 00:06:44,860 very tail end of last year , early 178 00:06:44,860 --> 00:06:47,500 december ish . So they are still on 179 00:06:47,500 --> 00:06:51,050 their original set of orders , john 180 00:06:51,050 --> 00:06:53,430 happy friday . Um I wanted to ask you 181 00:06:53,430 --> 00:06:55,790 about the former marine who was killed 182 00:06:55,790 --> 00:06:58,410 in Ukraine . Willie , joseph cancel . 183 00:06:58,420 --> 00:07:01,290 I'm pronouncing his name correctly but 184 00:07:01,290 --> 00:07:03,068 he was reportedly employed by a 185 00:07:03,068 --> 00:07:05,750 military contractor . Was that company 186 00:07:05,750 --> 00:07:07,639 contracted with the Department of 187 00:07:07,639 --> 00:07:10,790 Defense ? Not that I'm aware of . Does 188 00:07:11,240 --> 00:07:13,184 the Department of Defense have any 189 00:07:13,184 --> 00:07:16,090 contractors working in Ukraine ? Not 190 00:07:16,090 --> 00:07:19,980 there are more , Can you enumerate 191 00:07:19,990 --> 00:07:22,157 anymore of the donations that came out 192 00:07:22,157 --> 00:07:24,157 of the conference earlier this week 193 00:07:24,157 --> 00:07:26,157 with the 40 nations . Anything else 194 00:07:26,157 --> 00:07:28,323 concrete that you can point to ? There 195 00:07:28,323 --> 00:07:30,490 were some additional contributions but 196 00:07:30,490 --> 00:07:33,810 those nations have decided that it's 197 00:07:33,810 --> 00:07:36,870 best for uh for them to either talk 198 00:07:36,870 --> 00:07:38,870 about it or not . And so we want to 199 00:07:38,870 --> 00:07:40,926 respect that I mean the secretary at 200 00:07:40,926 --> 00:07:42,703 his press conference afterwards 201 00:07:42,703 --> 00:07:46,470 detailed what what he could and again , 202 00:07:46,470 --> 00:07:48,581 these are sovereign decisions that we 203 00:07:48,581 --> 00:07:50,748 want to be respectful ? But the bottom 204 00:07:50,748 --> 00:07:52,859 line is , yes , there were additional 205 00:07:52,859 --> 00:07:54,550 nations who had additional 206 00:07:54,550 --> 00:07:56,550 contributions that they stated that 207 00:07:56,550 --> 00:07:58,494 they planned to make . And again , 208 00:07:58,494 --> 00:08:00,606 we're gonna leave it to them to speak 209 00:08:00,606 --> 00:08:02,828 to them . And what more can you tell us 210 00:08:02,828 --> 00:08:05,050 about what's happening in Moldova ? And 211 00:08:05,050 --> 00:08:08,600 can you deter Russia from going into 212 00:08:08,600 --> 00:08:11,040 Moldova ? What would happen if Russia 213 00:08:11,050 --> 00:08:14,010 were to actually move in to that area ? 214 00:08:14,020 --> 00:08:16,020 So look , we're aware of these 215 00:08:16,020 --> 00:08:17,798 explosions that happened in the 216 00:08:17,798 --> 00:08:20,730 Transnistria region of Moldova . We do 217 00:08:20,730 --> 00:08:23,090 not have much information about what 218 00:08:23,090 --> 00:08:24,979 caused those explosions , who was 219 00:08:24,979 --> 00:08:27,201 responsible , what the motive was . And 220 00:08:27,201 --> 00:08:29,201 look , the further away we get from 221 00:08:29,201 --> 00:08:31,368 them , the probably the less fingertip 222 00:08:31,368 --> 00:08:33,479 field we're going to have in terms of 223 00:08:33,479 --> 00:08:35,312 what actually happened . Um , we 224 00:08:35,312 --> 00:08:36,923 absolutely respect Moldova's 225 00:08:36,923 --> 00:08:38,820 sovereignty . We want every other 226 00:08:38,820 --> 00:08:40,931 nation in the world to respect it . A 227 00:08:40,931 --> 00:08:43,153 Russian general out there claiming that 228 00:08:43,153 --> 00:08:45,040 Moldova's next is clearly uh , 229 00:08:45,050 --> 00:08:47,810 irresponsible rhetoric . Um , I'm not 230 00:08:47,810 --> 00:08:49,921 going to get into hypotheticals about 231 00:08:49,921 --> 00:08:52,032 what the Russians will do or won't do 232 00:08:52,032 --> 00:08:53,921 or what the or what the people of 233 00:08:53,921 --> 00:08:55,810 Moldova will do . Our focus is on 234 00:08:55,840 --> 00:08:57,610 making sure that Ukraine whose 235 00:08:57,610 --> 00:08:59,777 sovereignty actually has been violated 236 00:08:59,777 --> 00:09:02,180 by Russia is able to defend itself 237 00:09:02,180 --> 00:09:04,900 against that , that violation and uh , 238 00:09:04,910 --> 00:09:07,370 and and achieve their own victories on 239 00:09:07,370 --> 00:09:09,481 the battlefield . That's where that's 240 00:09:09,481 --> 00:09:11,703 where our heads are right now , anybody 241 00:09:11,703 --> 00:09:13,900 else Phil you talked about training , 242 00:09:13,920 --> 00:09:16,087 Is there any consideration being given 243 00:09:16,087 --> 00:09:18,142 to returning some training to inside 244 00:09:18,142 --> 00:09:19,920 Ukraine . Now the diplomats are 245 00:09:19,920 --> 00:09:22,087 returning to Ukraine or is the idea of 246 00:09:22,087 --> 00:09:24,630 training inside Ukraine ? Uh , you know , 247 00:09:24,630 --> 00:09:27,000 a nonstarter because of the President's 248 00:09:27,000 --> 00:09:29,222 guidance against engaging directly with 249 00:09:29,222 --> 00:09:32,790 Russians right now , Phil uh , we don't 250 00:09:32,790 --> 00:09:34,846 have any plans to return to training 251 00:09:34,846 --> 00:09:37,068 inside Ukraine . The training that will 252 00:09:37,068 --> 00:09:39,346 do will be outside of of Ukraine . Now , 253 00:09:39,346 --> 00:09:41,068 one thing I will say is we are 254 00:09:41,068 --> 00:09:43,123 exploring on some of these systems , 255 00:09:43,123 --> 00:09:44,957 the possibility of doing virtual 256 00:09:44,957 --> 00:09:47,068 training . Uh , so where the trainers 257 00:09:47,068 --> 00:09:49,234 would be obviously outside Ukraine but 258 00:09:49,234 --> 00:09:51,179 able to communicate with Ukrainian 259 00:09:51,179 --> 00:09:53,346 troops inside Ukraine ? Virtually . So 260 00:09:53,346 --> 00:09:55,568 that's an option available to us hasn't 261 00:09:55,568 --> 00:09:57,623 started . We're not doing that right 262 00:09:57,623 --> 00:09:59,846 now , but we foresee the possibility on 263 00:09:59,846 --> 00:10:01,734 some of these systems where maybe 264 00:10:01,734 --> 00:10:03,457 checking in every now and then 265 00:10:03,457 --> 00:10:05,290 Familiarization , that kind of a 266 00:10:05,290 --> 00:10:07,179 virtual connection is certainly a 267 00:10:07,179 --> 00:10:07,000 possibility . But there's no plans 268 00:10:07,000 --> 00:10:09,056 right now to put us trainers back on 269 00:10:09,056 --> 00:10:10,944 the ground in Ukraine also on the 270 00:10:10,944 --> 00:10:13,278 training in in in other parts of europe . 271 00:10:13,278 --> 00:10:15,056 What are the limits of how many 272 00:10:15,056 --> 00:10:17,222 Ukrainians you can actually get out of 273 00:10:17,222 --> 00:10:19,389 the country and how do the fight to do 274 00:10:19,389 --> 00:10:21,556 this training and how does that affect 275 00:10:21,556 --> 00:10:20,790 what systems you really are going to 276 00:10:20,790 --> 00:10:22,790 make available ? Yeah , it's it's a 277 00:10:22,790 --> 00:10:24,734 great balance that we're trying to 278 00:10:24,734 --> 00:10:26,957 strike Phil , I mean , just take a look 279 00:10:26,957 --> 00:10:29,123 at what we've done so far , relatively 280 00:10:29,123 --> 00:10:31,401 small numbers And again , we're taking , 281 00:10:31,401 --> 00:10:33,568 we're trying to focus this training on 282 00:10:33,568 --> 00:10:35,780 individuals who are , you are already 283 00:10:35,780 --> 00:10:38,300 familiar with that kind of capability . 284 00:10:38,300 --> 00:10:40,244 So , for instance , artillery is a 285 00:10:40,244 --> 00:10:42,411 great example . We're not bringing out 286 00:10:42,411 --> 00:10:44,467 infantrymen and treat intern and and 287 00:10:44,467 --> 00:10:46,633 teaching them how to use our howitzers 288 00:10:46,633 --> 00:10:48,633 were bringing out a small number of 289 00:10:48,633 --> 00:10:50,800 artillery men . Um because the systems 290 00:10:50,800 --> 00:10:53,022 are familiar , it won't be that much of 291 00:10:53,022 --> 00:10:55,244 a stretch for them to learn an american 292 00:10:55,244 --> 00:10:57,411 howitzers Training them up right now , 293 00:10:57,411 --> 00:10:59,467 it's been two tranches of about 50 . 294 00:10:59,467 --> 00:11:01,689 And again , the numbers were set by the 295 00:11:01,689 --> 00:11:03,800 Ukrainians and in concert with them . 296 00:11:03,800 --> 00:11:05,911 Um uh and they are basically going to 297 00:11:05,911 --> 00:11:07,911 be trainers themselves . They'll go 298 00:11:07,911 --> 00:11:10,370 back into Ukraine uh and train their 299 00:11:10,370 --> 00:11:14,050 teammates on the radar systems , um , 300 00:11:14,060 --> 00:11:16,890 uh the counter artillery , radar and 301 00:11:16,890 --> 00:11:19,840 the toed air defense radar system that 302 00:11:19,840 --> 00:11:22,180 we're giving them . The we're training 303 00:11:22,180 --> 00:11:25,490 a small number less than 20 Ukrainians 304 00:11:25,490 --> 00:11:28,430 who again already have radar skills 305 00:11:28,440 --> 00:11:31,000 bringing them out for like a week . So 306 00:11:31,000 --> 00:11:33,650 we're we're trying to um give them 307 00:11:33,650 --> 00:11:36,310 systems new systems if we're going to 308 00:11:36,310 --> 00:11:38,477 give them new systems , were trying to 309 00:11:38,477 --> 00:11:40,699 give them systems that are roughly akin 310 00:11:40,699 --> 00:11:42,588 to what they're used to and won't 311 00:11:42,588 --> 00:11:44,477 require an onerous amount of , of 312 00:11:44,477 --> 00:11:46,421 training . And so that's the focus 313 00:11:46,421 --> 00:11:48,254 right now , I won't get ahead of 314 00:11:48,254 --> 00:11:50,477 decisions going forward , but right now 315 00:11:50,477 --> 00:11:52,810 because they're in such an active fight . 316 00:11:52,810 --> 00:11:55,032 We we don't want to but labor them with 317 00:11:55,032 --> 00:11:57,320 long complicated training that also 318 00:11:57,320 --> 00:11:59,542 requires a high number of personnel min 319 00:11:59,542 --> 00:12:01,542 because they are in an active fight 320 00:12:01,542 --> 00:12:03,320 right now . Uh and they too are 321 00:12:03,320 --> 00:12:05,542 suffering casualties on the battlefield 322 00:12:05,542 --> 00:12:07,709 and we want to be respectful of that . 323 00:12:07,980 --> 00:12:10,160 Um so just on this $33 billion dollar 324 00:12:10,160 --> 00:12:12,271 package that the president is sending 325 00:12:12,271 --> 00:12:14,690 over once . Congress does approve that 326 00:12:14,700 --> 00:12:17,950 once if um does any of this have to be 327 00:12:17,950 --> 00:12:20,061 spent by the end of the fiscal year . 328 00:12:20,061 --> 00:12:22,200 And if so does that limit ? Cause any 329 00:12:22,200 --> 00:12:24,060 issues particularly for the 330 00:12:24,070 --> 00:12:26,181 replenishment of I think some of that 331 00:12:26,181 --> 00:12:28,620 will be determined by Congress uh in in 332 00:12:28,620 --> 00:12:30,398 the in what they approve in the 333 00:12:30,398 --> 00:12:32,509 supplemental request as the president 334 00:12:32,509 --> 00:12:34,509 said , if we get speedy approval on 335 00:12:34,509 --> 00:12:37,050 this , uh this funding will probably 336 00:12:37,060 --> 00:12:39,070 get us through five months so that 337 00:12:39,070 --> 00:12:41,292 certainly gets you with well within the 338 00:12:41,292 --> 00:12:43,459 fiscal year . What what we're planning 339 00:12:43,459 --> 00:12:45,403 on is is being an assuming it gets 340 00:12:45,403 --> 00:12:47,626 approved and as you heard the secretary 341 00:12:47,626 --> 00:12:49,792 say , we urge Congress to approve this 342 00:12:49,792 --> 00:12:51,959 in a speedy way . We would expect that 343 00:12:51,959 --> 00:12:55,480 this would be actionable on on our part 344 00:12:55,490 --> 00:12:57,546 well within the bounds of the fiscal 345 00:12:57,546 --> 00:12:59,860 year . And then just as a follow up , 346 00:12:59,870 --> 00:13:01,870 are we going to hear more about the 347 00:13:01,870 --> 00:13:03,537 capabilities that we would be 348 00:13:03,537 --> 00:13:05,814 transferring to Ukraine ? We sure will . 349 00:13:05,814 --> 00:13:07,537 Yeah . Yeah . When when do you 350 00:13:07,537 --> 00:13:09,759 understand that this these capabilities 351 00:13:09,759 --> 00:13:11,926 will be delivered ? Well look , I mean 352 00:13:11,926 --> 00:13:14,037 you're talking about the supplemental 353 00:13:14,037 --> 00:13:16,148 so first it has to get approved but I 354 00:13:16,148 --> 00:13:18,370 can tell you that pentagon planners are 355 00:13:18,370 --> 00:13:20,426 already putting pen to paper and and 356 00:13:20,426 --> 00:13:22,426 working with the Ukrainians on what 357 00:13:22,426 --> 00:13:24,620 what they would need . Uh Once we get 358 00:13:24,620 --> 00:13:26,731 approval and sort of where we're at , 359 00:13:26,731 --> 00:13:28,540 um we still have some drawdown 360 00:13:28,540 --> 00:13:30,596 authorities still available to us as 361 00:13:30,596 --> 00:13:32,929 well , but this would be on top of that . 362 00:13:32,929 --> 00:13:35,096 So we're already started sticking that 363 00:13:35,096 --> 00:13:37,262 through with the with the Ukrainians . 364 00:13:37,262 --> 00:13:37,060 And as for speed laura again , it would 365 00:13:37,060 --> 00:13:39,460 depend on what what goes into the 366 00:13:39,460 --> 00:13:41,793 package , how fast you can get it there . 367 00:13:41,793 --> 00:13:43,849 But I would tell you , I mean , just 368 00:13:43,849 --> 00:13:43,430 look at what we were able to do with 369 00:13:43,430 --> 00:13:45,541 the howitzers , which was a brand new 370 00:13:45,541 --> 00:13:47,652 capability . We gave them in just the 371 00:13:47,652 --> 00:13:50,100 previous two presidential drawdown 372 00:13:50,100 --> 00:13:52,710 packages within just the last couple of 373 00:13:52,710 --> 00:13:55,730 weeks . Um And from in some cases , not 374 00:13:55,730 --> 00:13:57,897 in every case , but in some cases from 375 00:13:57,897 --> 00:13:59,820 the time the president signed the 376 00:13:59,820 --> 00:14:02,210 authorization to the moment , how it 377 00:14:02,220 --> 00:14:05,450 started showing up in the region was 378 00:14:05,460 --> 00:14:08,690 only about 48 hours . And then 24 hours 379 00:14:08,690 --> 00:14:10,990 or so after that actually showing up in 380 00:14:10,990 --> 00:14:13,157 Ukraine . And and so over the last two 381 00:14:13,157 --> 00:14:16,880 packages , uh that's 90 howitzers 382 00:14:16,890 --> 00:14:19,240 between the two between pd eight , I'm 383 00:14:19,240 --> 00:14:22,130 sorry , seven and eight . Uh and of 384 00:14:22,130 --> 00:14:24,241 those 90 , more than half of them are 385 00:14:24,241 --> 00:14:26,186 in Ukraine as we speak . And those 386 00:14:26,186 --> 00:14:28,241 trainers that just finished the week 387 00:14:28,241 --> 00:14:30,408 long course , we're able to fall right 388 00:14:30,408 --> 00:14:32,630 in on top of equipment that was waiting 389 00:14:32,630 --> 00:14:34,686 for them . I mean that's uh , that's 390 00:14:34,686 --> 00:14:34,580 just an incredible rate of 391 00:14:34,580 --> 00:14:36,691 effectiveness and efficiency in terms 392 00:14:36,691 --> 00:14:38,691 of getting them there . It's a long 393 00:14:38,691 --> 00:14:40,913 answer to a very good question . What I 394 00:14:40,913 --> 00:14:42,802 would say is just to wrap it up , 395 00:14:42,802 --> 00:14:44,691 whatever goes in these future aid 396 00:14:44,691 --> 00:14:47,090 packages . Uh , I can assure you that 397 00:14:47,100 --> 00:14:49,156 we will work with lightning speed to 398 00:14:49,156 --> 00:14:51,211 get them there as fast as possible . 399 00:14:51,740 --> 00:14:54,630 Yeah , really , I want to ask you about 400 00:14:54,640 --> 00:14:56,473 the secretary's meeting with the 401 00:14:56,473 --> 00:14:58,696 Japanese counterpart Kishan next week . 402 00:14:58,940 --> 00:15:01,420 Is this secretly going to discuss any 403 00:15:01,430 --> 00:15:04,640 concrete steps to maintain peace and 404 00:15:04,640 --> 00:15:07,340 stability over the Taiwan strait ? I 405 00:15:07,340 --> 00:15:09,280 think , uh , as I read out to the 406 00:15:09,280 --> 00:15:12,970 beginning that clearly expect china to 407 00:15:12,970 --> 00:15:15,248 come up as part of this discussion Rio , 408 00:15:15,248 --> 00:15:17,137 I'm not going to get ahead of the 409 00:15:17,137 --> 00:15:18,914 actual agenda here . We're just 410 00:15:18,914 --> 00:15:20,914 announcing the visit and we're very 411 00:15:20,914 --> 00:15:23,081 pleased to welcome Minister Kishi here 412 00:15:23,081 --> 00:15:24,914 at the pentagon will have a full 413 00:15:24,914 --> 00:15:27,026 readout I think as you know , but but 414 00:15:27,026 --> 00:15:28,859 clearly tensions with china will 415 00:15:28,859 --> 00:15:31,192 absolutely be on the agenda . Thank you . 416 00:15:31,192 --> 00:15:34,230 Okay , yeah , thank you . Um , I just 417 00:15:34,230 --> 00:15:37,480 wanted to follow up , um , observe the 418 00:15:37,480 --> 00:15:40,000 Austin meeting with Germany's Defense 419 00:15:40,010 --> 00:15:43,910 Minister . So in light of lucius , 420 00:15:44,060 --> 00:15:46,870 um , invasion of Ukraine , what kind of 421 00:15:46,880 --> 00:15:50,700 discussions do you expect ? And do you 422 00:15:50,700 --> 00:15:52,811 expect there will be some discussions 423 00:15:52,811 --> 00:15:56,640 of , to reassure nuclear deterrence to 424 00:15:56,650 --> 00:16:00,210 East Asia during survival . Mm hmm , I 425 00:16:00,210 --> 00:16:02,099 would say a couple of things . We 426 00:16:02,099 --> 00:16:04,210 obviously have a treaty alliance with 427 00:16:04,210 --> 00:16:04,010 Japan that we take very , very 428 00:16:04,010 --> 00:16:06,990 seriously . Uh , and um , and that 429 00:16:06,990 --> 00:16:10,660 includes a shared discussion over 430 00:16:11,040 --> 00:16:13,040 deterrent capabilities . I won't go 431 00:16:13,040 --> 00:16:15,200 into specifics about uh , nuclear 432 00:16:15,200 --> 00:16:17,910 deterrence or nuclear posture , but I 433 00:16:17,920 --> 00:16:21,550 can assure you that um mhm , 434 00:16:21,940 --> 00:16:23,829 a not insignificant amount of the 435 00:16:23,829 --> 00:16:25,996 discussion with Minister Kishi will be 436 00:16:25,996 --> 00:16:27,829 about how we , the United States 437 00:16:27,829 --> 00:16:29,496 continue to meet our security 438 00:16:29,496 --> 00:16:31,990 commitments to Japan . And and you , 439 00:16:32,000 --> 00:16:34,222 you had another question that I think I 440 00:16:34,240 --> 00:16:37,680 did not get nuclear deterrence . Yeah , 441 00:16:37,680 --> 00:16:39,902 I just , I just thought I answered that 442 00:16:39,902 --> 00:16:41,958 one looks like , am I good , are you 443 00:16:41,958 --> 00:16:45,530 okay about Russia's invasion of 444 00:16:45,530 --> 00:16:49,110 Ukraine ? What kind of Yeah . So , um , 445 00:16:49,120 --> 00:16:51,342 again , I'm not gonna get too far ahead 446 00:16:51,342 --> 00:16:53,564 of a meeting that hasn't happened yet . 447 00:16:53,564 --> 00:16:55,787 We were delighted that Japan could join 448 00:16:55,787 --> 00:16:57,898 us . Uh , they joined virtually . But 449 00:16:57,898 --> 00:17:00,050 still they participated in the , uh , 450 00:17:00,060 --> 00:17:02,440 in the consultative meeting in Ramstein 451 00:17:02,440 --> 00:17:04,810 earlier this week . It was terrific 452 00:17:04,820 --> 00:17:07,390 that they were able to to attend . Uh , 453 00:17:07,390 --> 00:17:09,557 and I suspect that the Secretary wants 454 00:17:09,557 --> 00:17:12,010 to pick up on that conversation with , 455 00:17:12,020 --> 00:17:14,131 with the Minister , not unlike he did 456 00:17:14,131 --> 00:17:16,298 yesterday with the Minister of Defense 457 00:17:16,298 --> 00:17:16,170 from Canada . There's a lot of awful 458 00:17:16,170 --> 00:17:18,392 lot to discuss . Um , I won't speak for 459 00:17:18,392 --> 00:17:21,590 Japan and and what they are or are 460 00:17:21,590 --> 00:17:23,812 willing to do going forward in terms of 461 00:17:23,812 --> 00:17:25,701 supporting Ukraine . That's their 462 00:17:25,701 --> 00:17:27,868 decisions , their , their decisions to 463 00:17:27,868 --> 00:17:30,034 speak to . Um , but they're a key ally 464 00:17:30,034 --> 00:17:31,868 and a great friend and , and the 465 00:17:31,868 --> 00:17:34,090 Secretary looks forward to talking with 466 00:17:34,090 --> 00:17:35,757 them in furtherance of of our 467 00:17:35,757 --> 00:17:37,868 discussion at Ramstein kelly ? I have 468 00:17:37,868 --> 00:17:40,090 two questions , but I wanted to ask you 469 00:17:40,090 --> 00:17:42,034 off the top about the time article 470 00:17:42,034 --> 00:17:44,146 where President Zelinski says he came 471 00:17:44,146 --> 00:17:45,979 within minutes of Russian forces 472 00:17:45,979 --> 00:17:48,201 finding him right in the beginning days 473 00:17:48,201 --> 00:17:47,900 of the war . I was curious your 474 00:17:47,900 --> 00:17:49,956 thoughts on that and that revelation 475 00:17:49,956 --> 00:17:52,011 that I can't confirm that anecdote . 476 00:17:52,011 --> 00:17:53,900 Certainly , I'm in no position to 477 00:17:53,900 --> 00:17:56,170 refute Presidents Alinsky's own 478 00:17:56,180 --> 00:17:59,360 accounting of this . Um but I think 479 00:17:59,740 --> 00:18:03,330 um it just goes to show you 480 00:18:03,370 --> 00:18:06,730 um how much energy the Russians were 481 00:18:06,730 --> 00:18:09,500 trying to apply to Kiev , which all , 482 00:18:09,500 --> 00:18:12,290 which makes it all the more impressive 483 00:18:12,300 --> 00:18:14,522 that they lost that battle . The second 484 00:18:14,522 --> 00:18:16,689 thing that I take away , when I when I 485 00:18:16,689 --> 00:18:18,880 hear about this anecdote is uh 486 00:18:18,890 --> 00:18:22,710 the inspirational 487 00:18:22,710 --> 00:18:25,030 leadership of President Zelensky , that 488 00:18:25,040 --> 00:18:27,390 uh that he never left , he's still 489 00:18:27,390 --> 00:18:31,290 there and he never gave 490 00:18:31,290 --> 00:18:33,457 up command and control of his forces . 491 00:18:33,457 --> 00:18:35,346 He still has terrific command and 492 00:18:35,346 --> 00:18:37,346 control his forces . He's still the 493 00:18:37,346 --> 00:18:37,210 democratically elected leader of 494 00:18:37,210 --> 00:18:38,766 Ukraine and executing those 495 00:18:38,766 --> 00:18:41,050 responsibilities every single day under 496 00:18:41,050 --> 00:18:43,410 incredible pressure . Um and and 497 00:18:43,410 --> 00:18:45,940 clearly under a very real physical 498 00:18:45,940 --> 00:18:48,930 threat to to uh to his life , but he's 499 00:18:48,930 --> 00:18:51,420 still there . Uh and uh Secretary 500 00:18:51,420 --> 00:18:54,440 Austin was honored to be able to travel 501 00:18:54,440 --> 00:18:57,290 to to to keep and meet with him uh and 502 00:18:57,290 --> 00:18:59,401 talk to him , you know , face to face 503 00:18:59,401 --> 00:19:01,623 about the leadership challenges that he 504 00:19:01,623 --> 00:19:03,679 continues to face . I just wanted to 505 00:19:03,679 --> 00:19:03,630 follow up on the other day when we were 506 00:19:03,630 --> 00:19:05,686 talking about the nuclear threat and 507 00:19:05,686 --> 00:19:07,908 taking it seriously . Is there anything 508 00:19:07,908 --> 00:19:10,019 we're doing to show that we're taking 509 00:19:10,019 --> 00:19:12,019 it seriously ? Any deterrence ? And 510 00:19:12,019 --> 00:19:11,930 does the Pentagon worry that Putin 511 00:19:11,930 --> 00:19:13,860 might look to use more low yield 512 00:19:13,870 --> 00:19:15,703 tactical nuclear missiles in the 513 00:19:15,703 --> 00:19:17,814 battlefield ? We've talked about this 514 00:19:17,814 --> 00:19:20,270 low yield tactical nuke issue . Uh , 515 00:19:20,840 --> 00:19:24,580 look and 516 00:19:24,580 --> 00:19:26,636 nuclear weapons and nuclear weapon . 517 00:19:26,650 --> 00:19:28,872 And you can talk all you want about low 518 00:19:28,872 --> 00:19:31,039 yield and tactical and all that . It's 519 00:19:31,039 --> 00:19:33,039 a nuclear weapon . It's a weapon of 520 00:19:33,039 --> 00:19:35,094 mass destruction and it's completely 521 00:19:35,094 --> 00:19:38,550 irresponsible for a nuclear power uh , 522 00:19:38,560 --> 00:19:40,504 to be saber rattling like that and 523 00:19:40,504 --> 00:19:42,616 blustering on about the potential use 524 00:19:42,616 --> 00:19:44,838 of nuclear weapons of any kind of , any 525 00:19:44,838 --> 00:19:47,440 of any size of any yield . Um , and 526 00:19:47,440 --> 00:19:49,880 that's why we're monitoring this as 527 00:19:49,880 --> 00:19:51,658 best we can the Russian nuclear 528 00:19:51,658 --> 00:19:54,090 capabilities . And as I've said many 529 00:19:54,090 --> 00:19:57,220 many times , um , we are comfortable 530 00:19:57,230 --> 00:19:59,530 with the strategic nuclear deterrent 531 00:19:59,530 --> 00:20:02,180 posture that that we have in place to 532 00:20:02,180 --> 00:20:04,124 defend the homeland and defend our 533 00:20:04,124 --> 00:20:06,013 allies and partners . And we urge 534 00:20:06,013 --> 00:20:09,290 Russia to stop escalating the rhetoric 535 00:20:09,300 --> 00:20:11,670 uh , with respect to nuclear weapons . 536 00:20:12,140 --> 00:20:14,660 And do the right thing in the war today . 537 00:20:15,240 --> 00:20:17,462 Have your troops leave Ukraine sit down 538 00:20:17,462 --> 00:20:19,573 in good faith with President Zelensky 539 00:20:19,573 --> 00:20:21,790 and do the right thing Barbara two 540 00:20:21,790 --> 00:20:24,320 points to follow up on most days , you 541 00:20:24,320 --> 00:20:27,270 talk about that notion of the Russians 542 00:20:27,270 --> 00:20:29,610 and the Ukrainians sitting down and 543 00:20:29,620 --> 00:20:31,640 negotiating . I think you have used 544 00:20:31,640 --> 00:20:34,680 that word many , many times . I want to 545 00:20:34,680 --> 00:20:37,390 make sure I understand what you say , 546 00:20:37,400 --> 00:20:39,400 what you mean . When you say that , 547 00:20:39,400 --> 00:20:42,140 what is it that the pentagon believes 548 00:20:42,140 --> 00:20:45,780 they should negotiate about ? Let me 549 00:20:45,790 --> 00:20:47,957 let me see if I could just take that . 550 00:20:47,957 --> 00:20:49,700 We're not dictating terms of 551 00:20:49,700 --> 00:20:52,600 negotiation to Ukraine . We are simply 552 00:20:52,600 --> 00:20:54,822 reiterating what President Zelensky has 553 00:20:54,822 --> 00:20:57,360 said he wants to do . So . You're 554 00:20:57,360 --> 00:21:00,490 talking about Ukraine , your your frame 555 00:21:00,490 --> 00:21:02,720 of reference is what Ukraine . When you 556 00:21:02,720 --> 00:21:05,460 say negotiating , that's what President 557 00:21:05,460 --> 00:21:07,460 Zelensky has said . He wants to sit 558 00:21:07,460 --> 00:21:09,516 down with President Putin and find a 559 00:21:09,516 --> 00:21:11,571 way to end this war . We respect and 560 00:21:11,571 --> 00:21:15,350 support that we are not in any way , uh , 561 00:21:15,360 --> 00:21:17,193 we're not fashioning negotiation 562 00:21:17,193 --> 00:21:19,380 tactics here . We're not uh , 563 00:21:19,390 --> 00:21:22,210 suggesting approaches to President . 564 00:21:22,210 --> 00:21:24,420 Zelensky is the democratically elected 565 00:21:24,430 --> 00:21:26,700 president of a , of a sovereign nation 566 00:21:26,700 --> 00:21:30,040 and only he can decide , uh , 567 00:21:30,050 --> 00:21:32,272 what what victory is going to look like 568 00:21:32,272 --> 00:21:34,460 and how he wants to achieve it . That 569 00:21:34,540 --> 00:21:36,762 don't read anything more into that than 570 00:21:36,762 --> 00:21:38,762 that . And your second question you 571 00:21:38,762 --> 00:21:42,190 mentioned several minutes ago about The 572 00:21:42,200 --> 00:21:44,880 budget you're asking for for the $16 573 00:21:44,880 --> 00:21:47,102 billion . If I understood you , right , 574 00:21:47,102 --> 00:21:48,102 $16 billion 575 00:21:48,102 --> 00:21:54,070 president 576 00:21:54,070 --> 00:21:56,070 said that this that this would this 577 00:21:56,070 --> 00:21:58,070 would serve for about five months . 578 00:21:58,070 --> 00:22:01,180 It's an approximation . I wanted to ask 579 00:22:01,180 --> 00:22:04,100 you underpinning all of that . What is 580 00:22:04,110 --> 00:22:06,221 the planning ? Even though you cannot 581 00:22:06,221 --> 00:22:09,170 say how long the war will last And no 582 00:22:09,170 --> 00:22:11,281 one thinks you have a crystal ball on 583 00:22:11,281 --> 00:22:13,170 that . You're getting ahead of my 584 00:22:13,170 --> 00:22:15,820 answer . I see . I would like to ask 585 00:22:15,820 --> 00:22:17,987 you , since you have laid out the five 586 00:22:17,987 --> 00:22:21,560 months , what is the planning scenario 587 00:22:22,140 --> 00:22:24,660 that you're planning again ? Certainly . 588 00:22:25,040 --> 00:22:28,240 Um , there is no indication that this 589 00:22:28,240 --> 00:22:31,880 is going to end anytime soon . So what 590 00:22:31,880 --> 00:22:34,180 do you put , you know , Are you 591 00:22:34,190 --> 00:22:36,950 thinking more than five months is five 592 00:22:36,960 --> 00:22:38,990 months the outside . What is the 593 00:22:38,990 --> 00:22:41,101 planning scenario for ? How long this 594 00:22:41,101 --> 00:22:43,157 made that ? I want to be a couple of 595 00:22:43,157 --> 00:22:45,101 things . When the president talked 596 00:22:45,101 --> 00:22:47,046 about five months , he was talking 597 00:22:47,046 --> 00:22:49,212 about the entire 33 billion , not just 598 00:22:49,212 --> 00:22:51,490 the 16 billion for security assistance . 599 00:22:51,490 --> 00:22:53,960 We're not putting a time horizon on the 600 00:22:54,340 --> 00:22:56,451 the specific security assistance that 601 00:22:56,451 --> 00:22:59,980 we probably supply Ukraine . We when we 602 00:22:59,980 --> 00:23:02,880 get the authority , we source it and we 603 00:23:02,880 --> 00:23:05,047 get it there and we've been getting it 604 00:23:05,047 --> 00:23:06,880 there in record time . And we're 605 00:23:06,880 --> 00:23:08,880 talking to the Ukrainians literally 606 00:23:08,880 --> 00:23:11,158 every day about their consumption rate , 607 00:23:11,158 --> 00:23:13,213 about how fast they're working their 608 00:23:13,213 --> 00:23:15,047 way through some of these , some 609 00:23:15,047 --> 00:23:17,269 systems , they , there's some munitions 610 00:23:17,269 --> 00:23:19,491 they work through very , very quickly . 611 00:23:19,491 --> 00:23:21,324 Others not so much . I mean , 50 612 00:23:21,324 --> 00:23:23,547 million rounds of small arms ammunition 613 00:23:23,547 --> 00:23:23,440 and they still tell us that that's 614 00:23:23,440 --> 00:23:25,329 probably one of the most critical 615 00:23:25,329 --> 00:23:27,329 things that they need small arms uh 616 00:23:27,329 --> 00:23:29,329 ammunition because they're using it 617 00:23:29,329 --> 00:23:31,051 literally every day . So their 618 00:23:31,051 --> 00:23:33,051 consumption rates are different and 619 00:23:33,051 --> 00:23:35,051 it's gonna change from day to day , 620 00:23:35,051 --> 00:23:34,510 given on what resistance they're 621 00:23:34,510 --> 00:23:36,950 offering the Russians . So we're not 622 00:23:37,340 --> 00:23:39,220 we're not scoping it out by the 623 00:23:39,220 --> 00:23:41,460 calendar barb , I mean we are scoping 624 00:23:41,460 --> 00:23:43,627 it out by the consumption rate and the 625 00:23:43,627 --> 00:23:45,793 needs of the Ukrainians and that's why 626 00:23:45,793 --> 00:23:47,627 we continue . You've seen us now 627 00:23:47,627 --> 00:23:49,590 several packages um the quantities 628 00:23:49,590 --> 00:23:53,290 change , the capabilities change given 629 00:23:53,300 --> 00:23:55,550 the situation in Ukraine and and our 630 00:23:55,550 --> 00:23:58,960 conversations with them , U . S . 631 00:23:58,970 --> 00:24:02,670 Military assistance goes until there is 632 00:24:02,670 --> 00:24:05,650 a peace agreement . The president has 633 00:24:05,650 --> 00:24:07,761 been very clear barb that we're going 634 00:24:07,761 --> 00:24:09,594 to continue to support Ukraine's 635 00:24:09,594 --> 00:24:11,761 ability to defend itself . We're going 636 00:24:11,761 --> 00:24:13,928 to do it as much as we can and as fast 637 00:24:13,928 --> 00:24:16,039 as we can . And that's the that's the 638 00:24:16,039 --> 00:24:18,261 focus . We're not putting a date on the 639 00:24:18,261 --> 00:24:18,000 calendar and saying , well if it 640 00:24:18,000 --> 00:24:20,111 doesn't end by such and such a date , 641 00:24:20,111 --> 00:24:22,222 well that's it . You know , the wells 642 00:24:22,222 --> 00:24:24,333 dried up . We're not going to support 643 00:24:24,333 --> 00:24:26,389 you . The President has been clear . 644 00:24:26,389 --> 00:24:28,556 Let me try one more time . The reality 645 00:24:28,556 --> 00:24:30,667 would be at this point in years , not 646 00:24:30,667 --> 00:24:32,889 months . I don't think anybody can know 647 00:24:32,889 --> 00:24:35,056 that Barbara . I mean I don't know how 648 00:24:35,056 --> 00:24:37,056 anybody can know that the war and I 649 00:24:37,056 --> 00:24:39,111 know you get I say this all the time 650 00:24:39,111 --> 00:24:41,167 and and you probably are tired of me 651 00:24:41,167 --> 00:24:43,333 saying it , but it's true it could end 652 00:24:43,333 --> 00:24:45,500 tomorrow , it could end tomorrow if Mr 653 00:24:45,500 --> 00:24:44,980 Putin did the right thing . Now . 654 00:24:44,980 --> 00:24:47,258 Clearly he showed no desire to do that . 655 00:24:47,258 --> 00:24:49,591 We understand that . So in the meantime , 656 00:24:49,591 --> 00:24:51,480 whatever that meantime is weeks , 657 00:24:51,480 --> 00:24:53,702 months , whatever that mean , time is , 658 00:24:53,702 --> 00:24:55,924 we are going to continue to provide the 659 00:24:55,924 --> 00:24:57,869 capabilities that Ukraine needs to 660 00:24:57,869 --> 00:25:01,540 defend itself . Ah , let's 661 00:25:01,540 --> 00:25:04,270 see . I need my glasses . 662 00:25:06,240 --> 00:25:10,110 Oh , Sylvie . Hello 663 00:25:10,110 --> 00:25:13,950 john , thank you . Um I 664 00:25:13,960 --> 00:25:17,540 have a question about the cemetery . 665 00:25:17,540 --> 00:25:20,490 Austin said that the U . S . Wants to 666 00:25:20,490 --> 00:25:23,360 see the Russian military power 667 00:25:23,370 --> 00:25:27,370 degraded for the long term . So 668 00:25:27,380 --> 00:25:30,320 how can this happen ? And what is the U . 669 00:25:30,320 --> 00:25:34,090 S . Doing to make it happen ? What he 670 00:25:34,090 --> 00:25:36,670 said was we wanted to see a weakened 671 00:25:36,670 --> 00:25:39,880 Russia . That is what he said . And um 672 00:25:39,890 --> 00:25:42,057 he had an opportunity to talk about it 673 00:25:42,057 --> 00:25:44,223 again in Ramstein . I can't really say 674 00:25:44,223 --> 00:25:46,223 it any better than he did . I would 675 00:25:46,223 --> 00:25:46,010 certainly refer you back to the 676 00:25:46,010 --> 00:25:48,121 transcript of that press conference . 677 00:25:48,121 --> 00:25:50,320 But in a nutshell his point was , and 678 00:25:50,320 --> 00:25:52,542 this has always been from the outset of 679 00:25:52,542 --> 00:25:54,270 this war . Uh , it has been an 680 00:25:54,280 --> 00:25:56,930 administration policy to to to not 681 00:25:56,940 --> 00:25:59,107 allow Russia to be in a position to do 682 00:25:59,107 --> 00:26:00,940 this again . That is what he was 683 00:26:00,940 --> 00:26:03,107 talking about . And they are already a 684 00:26:03,107 --> 00:26:05,162 weaker military . They have suffered 685 00:26:05,162 --> 00:26:07,162 Thousands of casualties . They have 686 00:26:07,162 --> 00:26:09,384 lost airplanes , they have lost tanks , 687 00:26:09,384 --> 00:26:11,607 they have certainly lost battles . Um , 688 00:26:11,607 --> 00:26:13,829 and and they are certainly a weaker , a 689 00:26:13,829 --> 00:26:15,996 weaker military than they were 64 days 690 00:26:15,996 --> 00:26:18,107 ago . No question about it . We don't 691 00:26:18,107 --> 00:26:20,107 want to see them be able to restore 692 00:26:20,107 --> 00:26:22,329 that kind of aggressive power again and 693 00:26:22,329 --> 00:26:24,384 and do this kind of thing to another 694 00:26:24,384 --> 00:26:26,496 neighbor . And the bottom line is and 695 00:26:26,496 --> 00:26:28,607 again we've been saying this from the 696 00:26:28,607 --> 00:26:30,773 very beginning that this should not be 697 00:26:30,773 --> 00:26:32,718 cost free for Mr Putin . He should 698 00:26:32,718 --> 00:26:35,051 suffer consequences . And quite frankly , 699 00:26:35,051 --> 00:26:37,218 he has not only on the battlefield but 700 00:26:37,218 --> 00:26:39,450 is an economy . Um and his the export 701 00:26:39,460 --> 00:26:41,516 controls , the sanctions that are in 702 00:26:41,516 --> 00:26:43,682 place , they have already affected his 703 00:26:43,682 --> 00:26:45,940 ability uh to to regenerate some of his 704 00:26:45,940 --> 00:26:48,051 military capability . We talked about 705 00:26:48,051 --> 00:26:50,107 precision guided munitions the other 706 00:26:50,107 --> 00:26:51,996 day . It's a great example . He's 707 00:26:51,996 --> 00:26:54,051 struggling now to get components for 708 00:26:54,051 --> 00:26:53,530 some of those munitions . And we're 709 00:26:53,530 --> 00:26:55,641 already starting to see in Mario pole 710 00:26:55,641 --> 00:26:57,363 which they continue to bomb an 711 00:26:57,363 --> 00:26:59,419 increasing reliance on non precision 712 00:26:59,419 --> 00:27:01,308 guided munitions . So that is all 713 00:27:01,308 --> 00:27:03,570 accounting for a week of Russia . I 714 00:27:03,570 --> 00:27:06,280 think we can all agree um that that we 715 00:27:06,290 --> 00:27:08,512 that that we don't want at least we all 716 00:27:08,512 --> 00:27:10,457 should agree that we don't want Mr 717 00:27:10,457 --> 00:27:12,623 Putin to be in the same position going 718 00:27:12,623 --> 00:27:14,790 forward . And then he found himself in 719 00:27:14,790 --> 00:27:17,012 uh in late february when he was able to 720 00:27:17,012 --> 00:27:19,234 launch this unprovoked invasion , Jared 721 00:27:19,234 --> 00:27:23,160 Jared Suba from Al monitor . Sylvia . 722 00:27:23,160 --> 00:27:25,049 Do you want to go ahead ? I think 723 00:27:25,049 --> 00:27:27,216 Sylvia had a further follow up . Thank 724 00:27:27,216 --> 00:27:29,438 you . Thank you Jared . Yes , I had the 725 00:27:29,438 --> 00:27:33,090 follow up is um is the fear of Putin 726 00:27:33,090 --> 00:27:36,270 using nuclear weapons . Overblown ? 727 00:27:37,740 --> 00:27:41,460 We're blown overblown . When you have 728 00:27:42,040 --> 00:27:45,670 uh a nation the 729 00:27:45,670 --> 00:27:49,190 size of Russia with a nuclear arsenal 730 00:27:49,190 --> 00:27:51,246 that their their size and capability 731 00:27:51,246 --> 00:27:53,530 and a leader . That's clearly as 732 00:27:53,530 --> 00:27:56,530 belligerent as Vladimir Putin , we have 733 00:27:56,530 --> 00:28:00,410 to take seriously uh the 734 00:28:00,420 --> 00:28:02,420 escalatory rhetoric that he and his 735 00:28:02,420 --> 00:28:04,420 leaders have been using lately . It 736 00:28:04,420 --> 00:28:07,240 would be as as irresponsible as it is 737 00:28:07,240 --> 00:28:09,530 for him to use that rhetoric . It would 738 00:28:09,530 --> 00:28:11,697 be equally irresponsible for us not to 739 00:28:11,697 --> 00:28:13,919 take it seriously . And so we do and we 740 00:28:13,919 --> 00:28:16,252 monitor the capabilities as best we can . 741 00:28:16,252 --> 00:28:18,419 Um and if we have to make changes , we 742 00:28:18,419 --> 00:28:20,650 will . As I said , uh we have seen no 743 00:28:20,650 --> 00:28:22,483 reason to change our our nuclear 744 00:28:22,483 --> 00:28:24,483 strategic deterrent posture at this 745 00:28:24,483 --> 00:28:28,440 time . Let's see , Jared . Yeah , over 746 00:28:28,440 --> 00:28:31,630 to you . Hi john , thanks . Just a 747 00:28:31,630 --> 00:28:33,741 question about the Ramstein meeting . 748 00:28:33,741 --> 00:28:35,908 There were a handful of Middle Eastern 749 00:28:35,908 --> 00:28:38,241 allies invited . I think Qatar , Jordan , 750 00:28:38,241 --> 00:28:40,463 Israel , Morocco and Tunisia . I'm just 751 00:28:40,463 --> 00:28:42,352 wondering the specific reason for 752 00:28:42,352 --> 00:28:44,574 inviting these allies . You know , what 753 00:28:44,574 --> 00:28:43,940 what is the department hoping they can 754 00:28:43,940 --> 00:28:46,050 contribute ? And why were some other 755 00:28:46,060 --> 00:28:48,282 major U . S . Partners from that region 756 00:28:48,282 --> 00:28:50,393 left off the list . Thanks . Thanks . 757 00:28:50,393 --> 00:28:52,510 There was it wasn't that , you know , 758 00:28:52,510 --> 00:28:54,454 it's not about leaving folks off . 759 00:28:54,454 --> 00:28:56,566 There were a lot of invites . We gave 760 00:28:56,566 --> 00:28:58,732 you the list of those who who accepted 761 00:28:58,732 --> 00:29:00,899 and uh we'll let those nations who may 762 00:29:00,899 --> 00:29:03,010 have been invited and didn't accept . 763 00:29:03,010 --> 00:29:05,010 They can speak for themselves . The 764 00:29:05,010 --> 00:29:06,954 list we put out with a list of the 765 00:29:06,954 --> 00:29:09,177 countries that accepted the the our our 766 00:29:09,177 --> 00:29:11,177 invitation and we were grateful for 767 00:29:11,177 --> 00:29:13,010 their participation . Um I think 768 00:29:13,010 --> 00:29:15,420 there's two things here . one , uh , 769 00:29:15,700 --> 00:29:19,060 the the broad invite list was uh 770 00:29:19,440 --> 00:29:22,500 A statement of the mere fact that this 771 00:29:22,500 --> 00:29:24,667 has the attention of the international 772 00:29:24,667 --> 00:29:26,833 community , not just NATO and not just 773 00:29:26,833 --> 00:29:29,056 nations in the European theatre who are 774 00:29:29,056 --> 00:29:31,167 not in NATO , it has the attention of 775 00:29:31,167 --> 00:29:32,944 the entire world . And that was 776 00:29:32,944 --> 00:29:35,111 represented clearly . If you looked at 777 00:29:35,111 --> 00:29:37,167 those 40 countries from the , as you 778 00:29:37,167 --> 00:29:39,222 said , the Middle East Jared all the 779 00:29:39,222 --> 00:29:41,389 way to the Indo Pacific . Um , so it's 780 00:29:41,389 --> 00:29:43,611 a representation of the of the interest 781 00:29:43,611 --> 00:29:45,667 and the concern of so many nations . 782 00:29:45,667 --> 00:29:47,833 It's also a representation of the fact 783 00:29:47,833 --> 00:29:50,056 that we recognize some of these nations 784 00:29:50,056 --> 00:29:53,630 have , have expressed um uh in 785 00:29:53,630 --> 00:29:56,060 various forms and interest to help . 786 00:29:56,600 --> 00:29:59,480 And some of that help um , will be in 787 00:29:59,480 --> 00:30:01,536 terms of capabilities that they have 788 00:30:01,710 --> 00:30:03,800 systems that they have that the 789 00:30:03,810 --> 00:30:05,810 Ukrainians might be able to benefit 790 00:30:05,810 --> 00:30:07,699 from . It could just be financial 791 00:30:07,699 --> 00:30:09,699 contributions . But , but but every 792 00:30:09,699 --> 00:30:11,810 nation that was there , the secretary 793 00:30:11,810 --> 00:30:13,810 said it best you wouldn't come to a 794 00:30:13,810 --> 00:30:15,866 meeting like that if you didn't care 795 00:30:15,866 --> 00:30:17,977 about Ukraine . And and that's really 796 00:30:17,977 --> 00:30:19,977 what , what was driving the list of 797 00:30:19,977 --> 00:30:22,143 attendees . Each nation I think should 798 00:30:22,143 --> 00:30:24,254 speak for themselves about what drove 799 00:30:24,254 --> 00:30:26,477 them to attend that meeting and so many 800 00:30:26,477 --> 00:30:28,421 more . The majority's you saw were 801 00:30:28,421 --> 00:30:30,643 actually in person . Uh they traveled a 802 00:30:30,643 --> 00:30:32,900 long way to be uh , to be with us in in 803 00:30:32,900 --> 00:30:35,067 Germany and each nation I think should 804 00:30:35,067 --> 00:30:37,233 speak for what drove them to do that . 805 00:30:37,233 --> 00:30:39,233 But the but the bottom line is they 806 00:30:39,233 --> 00:30:41,400 were there and they were there because 807 00:30:41,400 --> 00:30:41,040 they cared they were there because 808 00:30:41,040 --> 00:30:43,400 they're concerned about Mr Putin and 809 00:30:43,410 --> 00:30:45,521 his war of choice and they were there 810 00:30:45,521 --> 00:30:47,688 because they had a genuine interest in 811 00:30:47,688 --> 00:30:49,854 exploring ways they could contribute . 812 00:30:49,854 --> 00:30:52,260 Okay , take a couple more . It's a 813 00:30:52,260 --> 00:30:54,590 friday , go ahead question for you on 814 00:30:54,600 --> 00:30:56,810 Mr Putin himself . Is it still the 815 00:30:56,810 --> 00:30:58,921 pentagon's assessment that he's being 816 00:30:58,921 --> 00:31:01,560 deceived by his advisors ? And also , 817 00:31:01,570 --> 00:31:03,514 have you seen any signs of growing 818 00:31:03,514 --> 00:31:05,520 dissension in either important 819 00:31:05,530 --> 00:31:07,940 government ranks in Russia or from 820 00:31:07,940 --> 00:31:09,950 Russian elites to his actions in 821 00:31:09,950 --> 00:31:12,570 Ukraine . It's not entirely clear 822 00:31:12,900 --> 00:31:16,700 how truthful the information is 823 00:31:16,700 --> 00:31:19,960 that Mr Putin is getting . We 824 00:31:20,440 --> 00:31:22,670 we did have some indications earlier 825 00:31:22,670 --> 00:31:24,740 that uh that he wasn't necessarily 826 00:31:24,740 --> 00:31:26,851 getting an accurate picture . I can't 827 00:31:26,851 --> 00:31:29,110 update you on that . I don't know what 828 00:31:29,110 --> 00:31:30,943 his briefings are like and who's 829 00:31:30,943 --> 00:31:33,110 briefing him and what information he's 830 00:31:33,110 --> 00:31:36,690 getting . Clearly uh he he messages and 831 00:31:36,690 --> 00:31:38,857 I can't speak for what's in his head , 832 00:31:38,857 --> 00:31:42,770 but he's messaging that um that 833 00:31:42,920 --> 00:31:45,110 that he 834 00:31:45,570 --> 00:31:48,770 is going to 835 00:31:49,340 --> 00:31:52,880 uh to achieve military outcomes in the 836 00:31:52,880 --> 00:31:54,610 Donbas in the in the south , 837 00:31:54,620 --> 00:31:58,200 specifically the the Donbas . Um And 838 00:31:58,200 --> 00:32:00,311 he's got some bizarre messaging about 839 00:32:00,440 --> 00:32:03,170 Nazis in Ukraine . Um And he's got even 840 00:32:03,170 --> 00:32:05,310 more bizarre messaging about how this 841 00:32:05,310 --> 00:32:07,421 is the United States versus Russia or 842 00:32:07,421 --> 00:32:09,310 the west versus Russia . It's not 843 00:32:09,310 --> 00:32:11,421 Russia as the aggressor . They're the 844 00:32:11,421 --> 00:32:13,643 ones that started this war in Ukraine , 845 00:32:13,643 --> 00:32:15,866 but how much information he gets that's 846 00:32:15,866 --> 00:32:17,810 informing some of these ridiculous 847 00:32:17,810 --> 00:32:19,866 claims . I can't say I'm sorry . You 848 00:32:19,866 --> 00:32:22,032 had another question , didn't you ? Um 849 00:32:22,032 --> 00:32:23,810 Just basically any dissent from 850 00:32:23,810 --> 00:32:25,921 important government . Uh Not nothing 851 00:32:25,921 --> 00:32:28,032 that we can speak to that we've we've 852 00:32:28,032 --> 00:32:30,199 seen what we have seen , our continued 853 00:32:30,199 --> 00:32:32,421 indications at lower levels in the army 854 00:32:32,421 --> 00:32:36,200 of of of poor 855 00:32:36,200 --> 00:32:39,040 morale . Um discouragement , 856 00:32:40,340 --> 00:32:43,380 Lack of unit cohesion . I mean this is 857 00:32:43,380 --> 00:32:46,000 an army that writ large across the 858 00:32:46,000 --> 00:32:48,490 entire Russian army is about 40% 859 00:32:48,490 --> 00:32:52,270 conscripts . Um and they they just now 860 00:32:52,280 --> 00:32:54,980 uh put a bunch more fresh conscripts 861 00:32:54,980 --> 00:32:56,924 into the fight . Um and what we're 862 00:32:56,924 --> 00:32:59,660 seeing is you know , they tend to have 863 00:32:59,940 --> 00:33:03,280 high morale going in first contact with 864 00:33:03,280 --> 00:33:05,447 the enemy , that morale is shattered . 865 00:33:05,447 --> 00:33:07,669 And so we continue to see problems that 866 00:33:07,669 --> 00:33:09,891 at the unit level anecdotally , I can't 867 00:33:09,891 --> 00:33:12,002 say every single unit but anecdotally 868 00:33:12,002 --> 00:33:14,002 some some unit cohesion issues that 869 00:33:14,002 --> 00:33:16,224 they still haven't , they still haven't 870 00:33:16,224 --> 00:33:15,970 been able to solve . But at the senior 871 00:33:15,970 --> 00:33:17,581 levels I just don't have any 872 00:33:17,740 --> 00:33:19,970 information to speak to that . Putting 873 00:33:19,970 --> 00:33:22,248 aside whether you agree with his logic . 874 00:33:22,248 --> 00:33:24,470 Do you believe that Putin is a rational 875 00:33:24,470 --> 00:33:26,470 actor ? I'm not a psychologist . Um 876 00:33:26,470 --> 00:33:28,526 barely got a history degree from the 877 00:33:28,526 --> 00:33:30,637 University of South florida . I'm not 878 00:33:30,637 --> 00:33:32,581 going to go into the psychology of 879 00:33:32,581 --> 00:33:35,300 Vladimir Putin . It's hard to look at 880 00:33:35,300 --> 00:33:37,910 what he's doing in Ukraine , what his 881 00:33:37,910 --> 00:33:40,670 forces are doing in Ukraine and think 882 00:33:41,090 --> 00:33:42,950 that any um 883 00:33:44,610 --> 00:33:48,420 ethical moral individual could justify 884 00:33:48,420 --> 00:33:51,760 that . It's difficult to look at the 885 00:33:59,640 --> 00:34:01,862 sorry it's difficult to look at some of 886 00:34:01,862 --> 00:34:04,960 the images and imagine that any well 887 00:34:04,960 --> 00:34:08,950 thinking serious mature 888 00:34:08,950 --> 00:34:12,860 leader would do that . So I can't 889 00:34:13,340 --> 00:34:16,010 talk to a psychology . But I think we 890 00:34:16,010 --> 00:34:18,300 can all speak to his depravity barbara . 891 00:34:18,450 --> 00:34:20,672 I want to follow up on that . Exactly . 892 00:34:20,840 --> 00:34:23,120 You just used a series of words that I 893 00:34:23,120 --> 00:34:24,787 don't think we have heard you 894 00:34:24,787 --> 00:34:27,760 specifically used before . Depravity , 895 00:34:28,240 --> 00:34:31,160 ridiculous , bizarre belligerent . 896 00:34:34,140 --> 00:34:36,580 You may not be a psychiatrist but what 897 00:34:36,590 --> 00:34:39,540 are you telling the world right now 898 00:34:39,550 --> 00:34:42,860 today by standing up here and 899 00:34:43,340 --> 00:34:46,770 saying these things . What is the 900 00:34:46,770 --> 00:34:48,660 sense in this government 901 00:34:50,140 --> 00:34:53,670 of who you have Just 902 00:34:54,140 --> 00:34:57,170 and we've been in the military a long 903 00:34:57,170 --> 00:35:00,790 time . You've seen a lot . You don't 904 00:35:00,790 --> 00:35:04,490 usually publicly react to these very 905 00:35:04,490 --> 00:35:06,630 difficult images . You've used 906 00:35:06,630 --> 00:35:08,463 extraordinary words here today . 907 00:35:08,463 --> 00:35:11,520 Starting with depravity . What does 908 00:35:11,520 --> 00:35:14,610 this government think Vladimir Putin's 909 00:35:16,340 --> 00:35:18,970 mental status , physical state , 910 00:35:21,020 --> 00:35:23,780 psychological state . What do you what 911 00:35:23,780 --> 00:35:26,380 something is leading you today to use 912 00:35:26,380 --> 00:35:28,269 this series . The series of words 913 00:35:28,470 --> 00:35:32,340 I I can't speak for the 914 00:35:32,340 --> 00:35:34,562 entire U . S . Government . I speak for 915 00:35:34,562 --> 00:35:37,440 the Defense Department and I didn't 916 00:35:37,440 --> 00:35:39,662 mean to get emotional . I apologize for 917 00:35:39,662 --> 00:35:41,829 that . I don't want to make this about 918 00:35:41,829 --> 00:35:45,600 me . But I I've 919 00:35:45,610 --> 00:35:47,890 been around the . Military a long long 920 00:35:47,890 --> 00:35:50,610 time and I've known 921 00:35:51,540 --> 00:35:53,670 friends who didn't make it back . Um 922 00:35:53,680 --> 00:35:56,860 It's just hard it's hard for all of you . 923 00:35:57,340 --> 00:36:01,120 Um particularly you you all have people 924 00:36:01,120 --> 00:36:03,287 there who are seeing this and bringing 925 00:36:03,287 --> 00:36:05,509 these images back , it's just difficult 926 00:36:05,509 --> 00:36:07,620 to to look at that . And it's hard to 927 00:36:07,620 --> 00:36:11,510 um it's hard to square his , let's just 928 00:36:11,510 --> 00:36:14,090 call it what it is , is B . S . That 929 00:36:14,090 --> 00:36:16,201 this is about nazism in Ukraine , and 930 00:36:16,201 --> 00:36:18,090 it's about protecting Russians in 931 00:36:18,090 --> 00:36:20,470 Ukraine , and it's about uh , defending 932 00:36:20,480 --> 00:36:23,480 Russian national interests . When none 933 00:36:23,480 --> 00:36:25,890 of them , none of them were threatened 934 00:36:25,890 --> 00:36:28,160 by Ukraine . It's hard to square that 935 00:36:28,160 --> 00:36:31,210 rhetoric by what he's actually doing 936 00:36:31,210 --> 00:36:34,180 inside Ukraine to innocent people shot 937 00:36:34,180 --> 00:36:36,236 in the back of the head , hands tied 938 00:36:36,236 --> 00:36:39,570 behind their backs , women , pregnant 939 00:36:39,570 --> 00:36:41,626 women being killed , hospitals being 940 00:36:41,626 --> 00:36:43,181 bombed . I mean , it's just 941 00:36:43,181 --> 00:36:46,930 unconscionable and I don't know , I 942 00:36:46,940 --> 00:36:49,960 don't have the I don't have the mental 943 00:36:50,330 --> 00:36:53,550 capacity to understand how you get how 944 00:36:53,550 --> 00:36:55,550 you connect those two things , it's 945 00:36:55,550 --> 00:36:57,328 just beyond me , but I'm just a 946 00:36:57,328 --> 00:36:59,550 spokesman . Barb , I'm not qualified to 947 00:36:59,550 --> 00:37:01,883 make an assessment one way or the other . 948 00:37:01,883 --> 00:37:04,150 And I do apologize for injecting my 949 00:37:04,930 --> 00:37:08,210 personal perspective here . You are 950 00:37:08,210 --> 00:37:10,266 very professional on this podium and 951 00:37:10,266 --> 00:37:12,860 nothing else . But can you tell us , 952 00:37:13,210 --> 00:37:15,750 can you just peel one layer back ? If 953 00:37:15,760 --> 00:37:19,250 possible . The US 954 00:37:19,250 --> 00:37:23,010 government military intelligence always 955 00:37:23,010 --> 00:37:26,550 has assessments on foreign leaders . 956 00:37:26,560 --> 00:37:28,580 This is a no , in fact , is there 957 00:37:28,610 --> 00:37:31,150 anything you can tell us that you might 958 00:37:31,930 --> 00:37:34,470 be able to share , to help people 959 00:37:34,470 --> 00:37:37,520 understand what is Putin's state of 960 00:37:37,530 --> 00:37:39,650 mind . I think , 961 00:37:41,830 --> 00:37:45,310 look , um , again , not a psychological 962 00:37:45,310 --> 00:37:47,532 expert , I'm not going to get into uh , 963 00:37:47,540 --> 00:37:50,230 individual intelligence assessments . I 964 00:37:50,230 --> 00:37:52,900 think , I think we 965 00:37:54,530 --> 00:37:56,363 we're certainly working under an 966 00:37:56,363 --> 00:37:59,540 assumption that Mr Putin was capable 967 00:38:00,220 --> 00:38:03,960 of pursuing what he believed . Russia's 968 00:38:04,070 --> 00:38:05,830 national interest to be with 969 00:38:08,020 --> 00:38:11,440 with with cold steel and 970 00:38:11,920 --> 00:38:15,450 with with 971 00:38:17,220 --> 00:38:21,040 um , with brutal 972 00:38:21,040 --> 00:38:23,620 determination . I think we all 973 00:38:23,620 --> 00:38:27,490 understood that . I don't think we 974 00:38:27,490 --> 00:38:30,740 fully appreciated the degree to which 975 00:38:31,820 --> 00:38:34,450 he would 976 00:38:36,120 --> 00:38:40,010 visit that kind 977 00:38:40,010 --> 00:38:43,780 of violence and cruelty . 978 00:38:44,490 --> 00:38:47,620 And as I said , depravity on innocent 979 00:38:47,620 --> 00:38:51,320 people , on on non 980 00:38:51,320 --> 00:38:55,030 combatants , on on civilians , with 981 00:38:55,040 --> 00:38:58,130 with such , uh , with 982 00:38:59,120 --> 00:39:01,840 with such utter disregard for the lives 983 00:39:01,840 --> 00:39:04,330 he was taking , the lives , he was 984 00:39:04,340 --> 00:39:07,300 flinging into refuge . Um , I mean , 985 00:39:07,300 --> 00:39:10,850 there's not even there's not even an an 986 00:39:10,850 --> 00:39:14,150 attempt by Russia two 987 00:39:14,820 --> 00:39:17,490 to be precise , uh , in their targeting . 988 00:39:17,490 --> 00:39:19,712 Even if even if you could find your way 989 00:39:19,712 --> 00:39:21,879 to getting to to rationalize what he's 990 00:39:21,879 --> 00:39:24,212 doing , which is of course unacceptable . 991 00:39:24,212 --> 00:39:26,323 But let's just say , hypothetically , 992 00:39:26,323 --> 00:39:28,434 you you could get yourself to a point 993 00:39:28,434 --> 00:39:30,212 where you believed this war was 994 00:39:30,212 --> 00:39:32,323 justified . You can't look at the way 995 00:39:32,323 --> 00:39:34,520 he's prosecuting it and his forces are 996 00:39:34,520 --> 00:39:36,850 prosecuting it and and come to a 997 00:39:36,850 --> 00:39:39,072 conclusion that that he's doing it in a 998 00:39:39,072 --> 00:39:42,540 justified manner . Um , it's it's just 999 00:39:43,720 --> 00:39:47,340 it's brutality of the , of the coldest , 1000 00:39:48,120 --> 00:39:51,630 uh , and and uh , and most depraved 1001 00:39:51,640 --> 00:39:53,751 sort and I don't know that I could do 1002 00:39:53,751 --> 00:39:57,530 it any better than that . Ah Barbara 1003 00:39:57,900 --> 00:40:01,450 that's I'm not I'm not qualified at 1004 00:40:01,450 --> 00:40:05,080 this podium to to talk about the those 1005 00:40:05,080 --> 00:40:07,247 kinds of things . I think , you know , 1006 00:40:07,247 --> 00:40:09,302 we we as an administration , we have 1007 00:40:09,302 --> 00:40:11,413 made clear , you know , that this war 1008 00:40:11,413 --> 00:40:13,580 is not about regime change . Um , this 1009 00:40:13,580 --> 00:40:15,524 is , this is about helping Ukraine 1010 00:40:15,524 --> 00:40:17,524 defend itself , jen , john , are we 1011 00:40:17,524 --> 00:40:20,640 witnessing it ? That is not a decision 1012 00:40:20,640 --> 00:40:22,696 that the Department of Defense would 1013 00:40:22,696 --> 00:40:24,807 make , jen that there's a , there's a 1014 00:40:24,807 --> 00:40:27,450 process for determining that , um , a 1015 00:40:27,460 --> 00:40:29,516 legal process for determining that . 1016 00:40:29,516 --> 00:40:31,682 And that's , that's beyond this podium 1017 00:40:31,682 --> 00:40:34,770 to speak to . Um , clearly we have said , 1018 00:40:34,770 --> 00:40:36,860 and , and I'm certainly willing to 1019 00:40:36,860 --> 00:40:38,971 repeat it , that it's very clear that 1020 00:40:38,971 --> 00:40:40,860 Russian forces have committed war 1021 00:40:40,860 --> 00:40:43,193 crimes . There's no question about that . 1022 00:40:43,193 --> 00:40:45,360 Okay . On that note , um , I think I'm 1023 00:40:45,360 --> 00:40:47,520 gonna call the day , um , thank you 1024 00:40:47,520 --> 00:40:49,890 very much . Um , have a good weekend 1025 00:40:49,890 --> 00:40:52,112 and we'll see you back here on monday . 1026 00:40:52,112 --> 00:40:52,750 Thanks .