1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:00,000 2 00:00:04,190 --> 00:00:06,134 All right , ladies and gentlemen , 3 00:00:06,134 --> 00:00:08,357 welcome , Secretary Austin . We'll have 4 00:00:08,357 --> 00:00:10,412 a few opening remarks and then we'll 5 00:00:10,412 --> 00:00:12,634 turn it over to questions . Please note 6 00:00:12,634 --> 00:00:14,968 I will call on reporters , Mr Secretary . 7 00:00:14,968 --> 00:00:17,870 You sir ? Uh , good evening . Uh It's 8 00:00:17,879 --> 00:00:19,969 great to be back at Kev . This is my 9 00:00:19,979 --> 00:00:21,930 third visit to Kev as Secretary of 10 00:00:21,940 --> 00:00:25,040 Defense . My second visit since the war 11 00:00:25,049 --> 00:00:28,979 started . Uh I was here in April of 12 00:00:28,989 --> 00:00:32,599 2022 since that time , the 13 00:00:32,610 --> 00:00:34,721 Ukraine Defense contact group , which 14 00:00:34,721 --> 00:00:36,777 as you know , is a group of about 50 15 00:00:36,777 --> 00:00:38,970 nations that work together to provide 16 00:00:38,979 --> 00:00:40,923 much needed security assistance to 17 00:00:40,923 --> 00:00:43,669 Ukraine . That group has roared into 18 00:00:43,680 --> 00:00:47,009 action and we have continued to work 19 00:00:47,020 --> 00:00:48,810 together to provide much needed 20 00:00:48,819 --> 00:00:51,099 security assistance in the form of high 21 00:00:51,110 --> 00:00:53,810 mars , other artillery 22 00:00:53,819 --> 00:00:56,599 platforms , uh tanks , 23 00:00:56,779 --> 00:01:00,040 munitions . And so , uh 24 00:01:00,349 --> 00:01:02,450 really , really good uh good work on 25 00:01:02,459 --> 00:01:06,199 the part of our allies and partners had 26 00:01:06,209 --> 00:01:08,470 a good chance to uh to discuss uh a 27 00:01:08,480 --> 00:01:11,470 number of issues with uh President 28 00:01:11,650 --> 00:01:13,849 Zelensky and Minister Umarov , uh 29 00:01:14,239 --> 00:01:17,830 talked about uh current operations and 30 00:01:17,839 --> 00:01:20,459 also talked about uh what Minister 31 00:01:20,470 --> 00:01:22,889 Umarov looks to do with the Ministry of 32 00:01:22,900 --> 00:01:25,011 Defense going forward in terms of his 33 00:01:25,160 --> 00:01:27,690 uh near term goals and objectives and 34 00:01:27,699 --> 00:01:30,580 his uh uh midterm goals and objectives . 35 00:01:30,589 --> 00:01:32,180 So very , very constructive 36 00:01:32,190 --> 00:01:36,110 conversation . I wanted to reassure the 37 00:01:36,120 --> 00:01:38,330 leadership that the United States of 38 00:01:38,339 --> 00:01:40,550 America will continue to support 39 00:01:40,559 --> 00:01:44,519 Ukraine . And uh and so , you know , we 40 00:01:44,529 --> 00:01:47,519 uh uh we talked about the things that 41 00:01:47,529 --> 00:01:49,640 we're going to continue to do to make 42 00:01:49,640 --> 00:01:51,751 sure that they have what they need to 43 00:01:51,751 --> 00:01:53,973 be successful on the battlefield . Also 44 00:01:53,973 --> 00:01:56,196 gave us an opportunity to uh to refocus 45 00:01:56,196 --> 00:01:58,699 and make sure that uh we maintain 46 00:01:58,709 --> 00:02:00,931 alignment between the operations on the 47 00:02:00,931 --> 00:02:03,153 ground and the president's objectives . 48 00:02:03,153 --> 00:02:05,610 And so , uh that was uh a great 49 00:02:05,620 --> 00:02:09,360 opportunity . And uh so overall , it's 50 00:02:09,369 --> 00:02:11,880 been a , it's been a great visit and uh 51 00:02:12,320 --> 00:02:14,320 with that , I'll take a couple of a 52 00:02:14,320 --> 00:02:17,529 couple of your questions here . I'm 53 00:02:17,539 --> 00:02:19,483 going to derail things . I have an 54 00:02:19,483 --> 00:02:22,610 Israel question . So I'm sorry , have 55 00:02:22,619 --> 00:02:25,020 you seen any cause for concern of how 56 00:02:25,029 --> 00:02:27,029 the Israelis are using the American 57 00:02:27,029 --> 00:02:29,196 provided weapons ? And have you voiced 58 00:02:29,196 --> 00:02:31,251 any concerns to your counterparts in 59 00:02:31,251 --> 00:02:33,307 Israel ? So the question is , have I 60 00:02:33,307 --> 00:02:35,473 seen any cause for concern in terms of 61 00:02:35,473 --> 00:02:37,860 how the weapons that we're providing , 62 00:02:37,869 --> 00:02:41,339 the Israelis are being used ? We have 63 00:02:41,350 --> 00:02:44,639 uh said every step of the way that we , 64 00:02:44,649 --> 00:02:47,119 our expectation is that the Israelis 65 00:02:47,130 --> 00:02:49,539 conduct their operations in accordance 66 00:02:49,550 --> 00:02:52,070 with the law of armed conflict . And we 67 00:02:52,080 --> 00:02:54,191 have made sure that uh we continue to 68 00:02:54,191 --> 00:02:57,259 emphasize to the Israelis that uh that 69 00:02:57,270 --> 00:02:59,960 they must account for civilians in the 70 00:02:59,970 --> 00:03:02,729 battle space and not only that , but 71 00:03:02,740 --> 00:03:04,796 they must do everything or should do 72 00:03:04,796 --> 00:03:07,240 everything that they can to get 73 00:03:07,250 --> 00:03:10,580 humanitarian assistance to the people 74 00:03:11,100 --> 00:03:13,669 in Gaza . And as we've said , a number 75 00:03:13,679 --> 00:03:16,309 of times , Hamas does not equal the 76 00:03:16,320 --> 00:03:18,399 Palestinian people . Hamas is a 77 00:03:18,410 --> 00:03:20,190 terrorist organization and the 78 00:03:20,199 --> 00:03:22,199 Palestinian people deserve better . 79 00:03:22,199 --> 00:03:24,255 They deserve much more . And again , 80 00:03:24,255 --> 00:03:27,320 hopefully at the end of this , you know , 81 00:03:27,330 --> 00:03:29,330 this will transition into something 82 00:03:29,330 --> 00:03:31,441 that provides good governance for the 83 00:03:31,441 --> 00:03:35,270 people of Gaza and addresses the 84 00:03:35,279 --> 00:03:38,449 underlying causes of instability . What 85 00:03:38,559 --> 00:03:42,550 you Mr Secretary 86 00:03:42,740 --> 00:03:46,660 German Minister Boris said that towers 87 00:03:46,820 --> 00:03:49,100 won't be a game changer in Ukraine . 88 00:03:49,279 --> 00:03:51,860 Some are afraid that even 16 won't be a 89 00:03:51,869 --> 00:03:54,036 game changer . Do you agree with these 90 00:03:54,036 --> 00:03:56,190 statements ? And what in your opinion 91 00:03:56,199 --> 00:03:58,919 can be a game changer all about Ukraine ? 92 00:03:59,110 --> 00:04:00,999 Thank you . Well , that's a great 93 00:04:00,999 --> 00:04:03,054 question . And you've heard me say , 94 00:04:03,054 --> 00:04:05,166 you've heard us say a number of times 95 00:04:05,166 --> 00:04:07,166 that there is no silver bullet in a 96 00:04:07,166 --> 00:04:09,869 conflict like this . Uh It uh it really 97 00:04:10,240 --> 00:04:12,580 depends on uh providing the right 98 00:04:12,589 --> 00:04:14,990 capabilities and also integrating those 99 00:04:15,000 --> 00:04:17,222 capabilities in meaningful ways so that 100 00:04:17,222 --> 00:04:19,444 you can create the right effects on the 101 00:04:19,444 --> 00:04:21,667 battlefield . And , and so whether it's 102 00:04:21,667 --> 00:04:24,170 uh F-16s , whether it's uh high mars , 103 00:04:24,179 --> 00:04:26,346 whether it's something else , it's the 104 00:04:26,346 --> 00:04:28,457 way that you go about utilizing those 105 00:04:28,457 --> 00:04:30,568 uh those capabilities and integrating 106 00:04:30,568 --> 00:04:32,679 and synchronizing the capabilities to 107 00:04:32,679 --> 00:04:34,512 produce the right effects on the 108 00:04:34,512 --> 00:04:36,512 battlefield . He's got a voice from 109 00:04:36,512 --> 00:04:38,769 America . Um Thank you first of all , 110 00:04:38,779 --> 00:04:41,029 there's been a steady drumbeat of aid 111 00:04:41,040 --> 00:04:43,207 rolling out for Ukraine . Did you tell 112 00:04:43,207 --> 00:04:45,373 your counterparts about any additional 113 00:04:45,373 --> 00:04:47,484 US aid that is coming out for Ukraine 114 00:04:47,484 --> 00:04:49,596 in the coming days and then uh on the 115 00:04:49,596 --> 00:04:51,484 fighting , how important is it to 116 00:04:51,484 --> 00:04:53,651 prevent Russia from again , having the 117 00:04:53,651 --> 00:04:55,929 winter months to harden their defenses ? 118 00:04:55,929 --> 00:04:58,339 And have you received assurances from 119 00:04:58,350 --> 00:05:00,517 the people you spoke with today , from 120 00:05:00,517 --> 00:05:02,572 these leaders that they are going to 121 00:05:02,572 --> 00:05:06,279 keep the pressure on Russia ? Well , 122 00:05:06,290 --> 00:05:08,769 uh you heard President Zelinski say a 123 00:05:08,779 --> 00:05:11,470 number of times that he intends to 124 00:05:11,480 --> 00:05:14,299 continue to keep the pressure on , on , 125 00:05:14,470 --> 00:05:17,079 on the Russians . And so we expect that 126 00:05:17,089 --> 00:05:19,089 uh you know , that , that that will 127 00:05:19,089 --> 00:05:21,256 absolutely happen . And the first part 128 00:05:21,256 --> 00:05:23,478 of your question again , Carl um well , 129 00:05:23,478 --> 00:05:25,645 the first part was , did you tell them 130 00:05:25,645 --> 00:05:27,700 about any additional aid that the US 131 00:05:27,700 --> 00:05:29,756 would be providing to Ukraine in the 132 00:05:29,756 --> 00:05:31,811 coming days ? So I I announced today 133 00:05:31,811 --> 00:05:35,329 another $100 million drawdown using 134 00:05:35,339 --> 00:05:37,561 presidential drawdown authority that it 135 00:05:37,561 --> 00:05:39,589 will provide additional artillery , 136 00:05:39,940 --> 00:05:42,790 munitions , additional 137 00:05:43,440 --> 00:05:47,049 um interceptors for air defense uh 138 00:05:47,059 --> 00:05:49,410 and uh and a number of uh anti tank 139 00:05:49,420 --> 00:05:51,690 weapons as well . So , you know , our 140 00:05:51,700 --> 00:05:53,867 support continues , but you're right . 141 00:05:53,867 --> 00:05:55,978 Uh other allies and partners are also 142 00:05:55,978 --> 00:05:58,200 stepping up to the plate as well . It's 143 00:05:58,200 --> 00:06:00,799 been an IC TV . Good evening , Mr 144 00:06:00,829 --> 00:06:02,885 Secretary . I will follow up with my 145 00:06:02,885 --> 00:06:05,440 colleague's question . Um From your 146 00:06:05,450 --> 00:06:09,160 perspective , is Ukrainian army ready 147 00:06:09,170 --> 00:06:12,670 for winter combat uh especially 148 00:06:12,679 --> 00:06:15,720 considering the fact of this funding 149 00:06:15,730 --> 00:06:18,239 challenges from the United States 150 00:06:18,250 --> 00:06:21,600 Congress , I , I think they are uh 151 00:06:21,609 --> 00:06:24,440 prepared for combat um um in , in the 152 00:06:24,450 --> 00:06:27,140 winter and certainly they did a great 153 00:06:27,149 --> 00:06:29,038 job last year . Uh This year , we 154 00:06:29,038 --> 00:06:31,038 expect for them to be uh just based 155 00:06:31,038 --> 00:06:32,982 upon what the President has said . 156 00:06:32,982 --> 00:06:34,982 President Zinsky has said . But the 157 00:06:34,982 --> 00:06:37,093 them to be even more aggressive uh in 158 00:06:37,093 --> 00:06:39,316 this later , uh this latest drawdown uh 159 00:06:39,316 --> 00:06:41,385 package that just mentioned we've 160 00:06:41,394 --> 00:06:44,015 included in there some winter gear as 161 00:06:44,024 --> 00:06:46,024 well . We provided winter gear last 162 00:06:46,024 --> 00:06:48,885 year . So yeah , they have the means 163 00:06:49,225 --> 00:06:52,274 that they'll need to be successful in 164 00:06:52,285 --> 00:06:54,285 fighting in the winter time . And I 165 00:06:54,285 --> 00:06:56,507 think I agree with President Zelinski . 166 00:06:56,507 --> 00:06:58,729 The right thing to do is to continue to 167 00:06:58,729 --> 00:07:00,952 press the fight , take the fight to the 168 00:07:00,952 --> 00:07:03,859 enemy . Let's go to be with . Thank you . 169 00:07:03,980 --> 00:07:06,091 Uh Secretary Austin , how worried are 170 00:07:06,091 --> 00:07:08,202 you personally about the future of us 171 00:07:08,202 --> 00:07:09,980 security aid for Ukraine giving 172 00:07:09,980 --> 00:07:12,036 opposition in Congress ? And how did 173 00:07:12,036 --> 00:07:14,036 you seek to reassure the Ukrainians 174 00:07:14,036 --> 00:07:16,369 during your visit to the US back ? Uh I , 175 00:07:16,369 --> 00:07:18,660 you know , I continue to see bipartisan 176 00:07:18,670 --> 00:07:20,726 support in both chambers of Congress 177 00:07:20,850 --> 00:07:22,961 and I know that there are some things 178 00:07:22,961 --> 00:07:24,794 that we need to continue to work 179 00:07:24,794 --> 00:07:27,017 through uh to , to get the supplemental 180 00:07:27,017 --> 00:07:29,183 request uh approved and we'll continue 181 00:07:29,183 --> 00:07:31,294 to work with cong Congress to do that 182 00:07:31,450 --> 00:07:33,299 again . Uh Congress uh our 183 00:07:33,309 --> 00:07:35,253 congressional members have uh have 184 00:07:35,253 --> 00:07:37,476 valid questions that we will answer and 185 00:07:37,476 --> 00:07:40,140 Uh but again , I I would point out that 186 00:07:40,149 --> 00:07:42,316 uh Ukraine matters , what happens here 187 00:07:42,316 --> 00:07:44,371 matters , not just to Ukraine but to 188 00:07:44,371 --> 00:07:46,427 the entire world . This is about the 189 00:07:46,427 --> 00:07:48,593 rules based international order . This 190 00:07:48,593 --> 00:07:50,760 is about , you know , not , not living 191 00:07:50,760 --> 00:07:52,982 in a world where a dictator can wake up 192 00:07:52,982 --> 00:07:56,170 one day and decide to , to annex the 193 00:07:56,179 --> 00:07:58,179 property of his peaceful neighbor . 194 00:07:58,220 --> 00:08:00,276 That's not the world that we want to 195 00:08:00,276 --> 00:08:02,498 live in . And so this is , this is more 196 00:08:02,498 --> 00:08:04,442 than , than just Ukraine . This is 197 00:08:04,442 --> 00:08:06,109 about again , the rules based 198 00:08:06,109 --> 00:08:08,387 international order . I don't question . 199 00:08:09,369 --> 00:08:12,250 Hi , Secretary Austin . Um Coming away 200 00:08:12,260 --> 00:08:14,371 from your talks today , do you have a 201 00:08:14,371 --> 00:08:16,371 sense that Ukraine has a more clear 202 00:08:16,371 --> 00:08:18,730 path to , to substantial territorial 203 00:08:18,739 --> 00:08:21,440 progress and that it has remedied some 204 00:08:21,450 --> 00:08:23,561 of the issues that contributed to the 205 00:08:23,561 --> 00:08:25,172 problems with the concurrent 206 00:08:25,172 --> 00:08:27,339 counteroffensive . And I have a follow 207 00:08:27,339 --> 00:08:31,239 up by , I think , you know , Ukraine , 208 00:08:31,250 --> 00:08:33,194 the Ukraine military is a learning 209 00:08:33,194 --> 00:08:35,349 organization and it will continue to 210 00:08:35,359 --> 00:08:37,919 learn from uh from all of its 211 00:08:37,929 --> 00:08:40,270 operations to this point . I think 212 00:08:40,280 --> 00:08:42,391 what's important is that , you know , 213 00:08:42,391 --> 00:08:45,390 the military uh uh constructs its 214 00:08:45,400 --> 00:08:48,159 operations to 215 00:08:49,309 --> 00:08:51,820 focus on the objectives and the goals 216 00:08:51,830 --> 00:08:54,400 that the president wants to achieve and 217 00:08:54,409 --> 00:08:56,770 again , synchronizing that up and 218 00:08:56,780 --> 00:08:59,002 making sure that we remain in the right 219 00:08:59,002 --> 00:09:01,224 place or they remain in the right place 220 00:09:01,224 --> 00:09:03,979 continues to be something that they'll 221 00:09:03,989 --> 00:09:06,045 continue to focus on . So , yeah , I 222 00:09:06,045 --> 00:09:08,750 think , I think they've learned a lot . 223 00:09:08,820 --> 00:09:11,153 I think they'll continue to learn . But , 224 00:09:11,153 --> 00:09:13,098 you know , this is dynamic as they 225 00:09:13,098 --> 00:09:15,264 learn and make adjustments , the enemy 226 00:09:15,264 --> 00:09:18,164 learns and then the related follow up 227 00:09:18,184 --> 00:09:20,240 is I know that you and your team and 228 00:09:20,240 --> 00:09:22,406 your counterparts on the military side 229 00:09:22,406 --> 00:09:24,573 have been working really hard over the 230 00:09:24,573 --> 00:09:26,795 last year and a half to support Ukraine 231 00:09:26,795 --> 00:09:28,684 to train their forces to get it a 232 00:09:28,684 --> 00:09:30,851 number of different capabilities . And 233 00:09:30,851 --> 00:09:33,414 yet the offensive operations haven't 234 00:09:33,424 --> 00:09:35,646 had the outcome that everybody wanted . 235 00:09:35,646 --> 00:09:37,313 How does this deadlock on the 236 00:09:37,313 --> 00:09:39,535 battlefield get broken ? Given that you 237 00:09:39,535 --> 00:09:41,591 guys have , you know , given all the 238 00:09:41,591 --> 00:09:43,924 support that you thought you could give . 239 00:09:43,924 --> 00:09:45,924 Well , let's take stock of what the 240 00:09:45,924 --> 00:09:48,146 Ukrainians have actually done . They've 241 00:09:48,146 --> 00:09:50,146 taken back half the half the ground 242 00:09:50,146 --> 00:09:52,368 that the Russians originally occupied . 243 00:09:52,368 --> 00:09:54,424 I think that's a pretty big deal . I 244 00:09:54,424 --> 00:09:56,313 think if you look at what they've 245 00:09:56,313 --> 00:09:58,368 accomplished here with the Black Sea 246 00:09:58,368 --> 00:10:00,591 fleet , they have inflicted significant 247 00:10:00,591 --> 00:10:02,760 pain on that fleet and actually caused 248 00:10:02,770 --> 00:10:06,159 them to reposition a bit . If you look 249 00:10:06,169 --> 00:10:08,280 at the damage that they've created to 250 00:10:08,280 --> 00:10:10,739 Russians land forces overall , it's 251 00:10:10,750 --> 00:10:12,780 significant and it will take Russia 252 00:10:14,219 --> 00:10:16,419 quite a while to recover from that . 253 00:10:16,580 --> 00:10:18,580 And in order to create the kinds of 254 00:10:18,580 --> 00:10:21,739 force that it had before this began . 255 00:10:21,869 --> 00:10:24,390 So we have to give credit where credit 256 00:10:24,400 --> 00:10:26,567 is due . I mean , this is , we said it 257 00:10:26,567 --> 00:10:28,733 was going to be a tough fight . It's a 258 00:10:28,733 --> 00:10:30,567 grinding fight and I think we'll 259 00:10:30,567 --> 00:10:32,622 continue to see that in the future . 260 00:10:32,622 --> 00:10:34,456 Now , uh what's important as you 261 00:10:34,456 --> 00:10:36,678 pointed out in your earlier part of the 262 00:10:36,678 --> 00:10:38,844 question uh is that they learn from uh 263 00:10:38,844 --> 00:10:40,844 from , you know , operations in the 264 00:10:40,844 --> 00:10:42,733 past and that they make the right 265 00:10:42,733 --> 00:10:44,844 adjustments and that uh and that they 266 00:10:44,844 --> 00:10:46,844 anticipate that the enemy will also 267 00:10:46,844 --> 00:10:48,844 adjust as they are adjusting . So , 268 00:10:48,844 --> 00:10:50,956 ladies and gentlemen , that's all the 269 00:10:50,956 --> 00:10:50,559 time we have today . Thank you very 270 00:10:50,570 --> 00:10:51,010 much . 271 00:10:54,489 --> 00:10:54,820 Ok .