Transcripts For CSPAN Defense 20240703

Please note that i will moderate those questions and call o journalists. Due to time constraints, please limith followup questions to give your colleagues a chance to ask questions. Secretary austin, over to you, sir. The speaker thanks. Good afternoon, everybody, and th general brown and i have just come from a meeting of Ukraine Defense Contact Group. Im grateful to the 50 from around the world that joined us again taythcontact gry from ukraines defense leaders, including the minister. They gave a valuable update on ukraines defensive operations across the front line, including the new russian offensive. We met today at a challenging moment. Putinsd another front ukrainian territory. The kremlins invaders are obliterating villages and bombarding civilian infrastructureg dams and power plants. Ukraines defenders are in a hard fight but Russian Troops are a high price for putins aggression. Putin is betting that eventually ukraine wi fold, and hes betting that this Contact Group will crumble, but hes wrong. And today we saw again why. Ukraine is fighting for its life, which gives it the huge strategic advantage of a just cause. Utins trying to wage a 19th century war of imperial aggression in the world of 2024. Thats a terrible idea and a terrible strategy. Ukraines forces are fighting theremlins war of choice with ingenuity and and they are making excellent use of the capabilities providet group. We spent a lot o on lifesaving air Defense Systems, which are h off waves of russian missiles, rapian u. A. V. s, and north korean munitions. Continue to push to ensure that ukrainewnand can defend its citizens and the civilian infrastructure farmthe. The United States and our a and partners worldwide remain laserfocused on ukraines nearterm requirements in khakiv and elsewhere. Well continue to findan solutions. Thats why President Biden announced a 400 million ukraine earlier this month. It will provide critical munitions and pat right airnse. More high systems and munitions, more antiarmor systems and other priority requirements. And th on top of the 7 billion of Security Assistance that weve already committed to ukraine sincet passage of the National Security supplemental. Were delivering the most urgently needed capabilities, including 155millimeter and much more is on the way. Contact gr also spent time today on a longterm challenge of ukraines security. I continue to be impressed by the work of the capability coalitions. These eight coalitions are ipe and meet ukraines battlefield needs. Lae foundation for ukraines future e, be strong and sustainable enough to ward off fu rio today we heard updates from the mary Time Coalition and integrate air and missile defenselition. Im also impressed with germanys immediate action on the air defense initiative. Its helping ukraines Global Partners dig deeper and to find rapid and creative ways to deploy more air Defense Systems and provide the spare parts to sustain ukraines defenses. Meanwhile, the u. K. And norway are leading the mariTime Coalition in helping ukraine beef up its capabilities to fend off putins attacks. Now,ho just two of the eight capability coalitions. Together theyre providing a sturdy, flexible structure to meet ukraines security requirements over the long haul. Well with nations of goodwill from around the world to support ukraines fi for survival. And well continue to make the case for why ukraine matters. The outcome i ukraine is crucial for eea security, for global security, and for ity. None of us would want to live in a world where dictators redraw borders by force and launch wars of aggressio to try to revive yesterdays em fires. em fires. So let me be clear. And were determined. Were not going any and with that, let me turn it over to general brown. Gen. Brown thank you, mr. Secretary. Good afternoon, everyone. In an address to Congress Near the end of world war i, president Woodrow Wilson laid out his 14point program for world peace. He asserted that political independence and territorial integrity required an association of nations, unity against authoritarian gr i quote, we cannot be seped divided in purpose. We stand together until the end. President wilson never realized his vision for atrong coalition of nations based on his 14 points. The world had to endure a second ■ costly than the first. Utal, before there was collective will om together in common purpose. The principles president wilson championed we live in today. That order is being challenged by russias illegal unprovoked attack on the sovereign nation of Ukraine Defense Contact Group has stood together in the f of this russian aggression. It will continue to stand together to support ukraine and defend the International Order. Once again, i want to thank secretary austin for his leadershipn coalition of more than 50 nations in support ofkraine. Thanks also to defense minister and the ukrainian delegation who joined us today and for their leadership in Ukraines Armed forces. To all the nations, thank ufor f ukraine. Ukraine forces are being challenged, particularly in the Kharkiv Region where they will defending against increased russian attacks. In recent days, russia launched a new offensive attack against kharkiv. Aiming to establish a shallowern border. Russia anticipates thi will divert ukrainian focus and capabilities from other critical areas. Ukraine has made the concerted efforts to build and strengthen defensive lines which are being tested by russian attack ukraines defense munitions to protect their skies as they defendgain continued russian strikes on critical civilian infrastructure. Ukrainian forces are fighting hard to hold against russian the front lines. Ukraines reserves and stockpiles are beingllas they dn offensive actions, which the urgency of this coalitions work, to sustain ukraine. The president authorized a 1 billion military aid package for ukraine along the passage of the National Security supplemental. The second aid package was authorized a little over a week ago to send additional critical capabilities to ukraine. These packages include needed weapons, such as artillery ammunition, air defense interceptors, antiaircraft missiles,rmored vehicles, javelins, and other antiarmor systems. We delivered these supplies asq. The influx of u. S. And Coalition Assistance wen ukraine to continue to withstand russian aggression. Military aid to ukraine sends a clear message to the world. This coalition will not tire. We will not wave. We will not give up. Our collective r steadfast. We know that we cannotssiao rewo force tyranny on an unwilling ople, and to supplant the sovereign democratic nation. Actions of this Coalition Show other wouldbeggressors that we will defend International Order together. Sut is a strategic necessity that reinforces broader interNational Security. If unchecked, russian aggression could embolden other authoritarian regimes to challenge internatio norms and violate the sovereignty of their neighbors. Th higights the importance of a robust and response. Events have farreaching consequences that us all. A collective action shape the geopolitical landscape of tomorrow. This is what president wilson understood. E and prosperity for all nations can not be won through unified and cooperative effort. President wilson understands that peacemore than just words. They require c action on the part of nations coming together for apurpe. The Ukraine Defense Contact Group is committed to that work. Thank you, and i look forward to your questions. First question will go to the associated press. Reporter mr. Secretary, i wanted to ask you about iran. Does have any indication that the helicopter prident raisi was anything other than an accident . Hated any posture changes in case theres unrest following the death . Then for chairman brown, i wanted to ask you about Senior Airman roger fortson. What would you like to say to his family, and more broadly, what would you like to say to Broad Service members who areine they serve . My do, theres still Law Enforcement that sees them as a threat. Sec. Austin thanks. Regarding the death of irans president in the unfortunate helicopter crash, we continue to monitor the situation, bute dont have any insights into ths point. Certainly i know the iranians are or will investigate, and so well see what the outcos investigation is complete. In terms of our force posture, dont have any announcements to make, and again, this is something that well continue to watch, and up dont necessarily see any i dont necessarily see a point in time. Poer theres no indican there was anything other than an accident that brought this helicopter down . Sec. Austin i cant speculate on what may have been the cause of the accident, but again, i think the iranians have investigated. Gen. Brown let me first of all pass my sincere condolences to his f fellows. I know theyre going through difficult times right now, an i also tell you that for every Service Member we lose, it always tears know it impacts the family. One thing we highlight, this is under investigation, but what i would highlight is that the number of our Service Members and their families live in our various communities around the country. And we would hope and expect safe in those communities and those homes. Hilight for each one of those young people that join our oath to support and right hand defend the constitution of the United States, we want to provide them opportunities to reach their full potential. Thats our focus, no matter theirackground next question, cnn. Reporter defense minister briefed National Security advisor Jake Sullivan on rafa plans, at least accoin readout, it seems more detailed. Have you seen the plans that sullivan was bried of what you want to sigh in terms of see inms what israel wants to do before an operation in rafa . General brown, sir, as ukraine tries to defend itself against kharkiv, do you believe ukraine should be able to use american weaponry to target Russian Forces that j across the border there . Is that theec make . Sec. Austin thanks. I not seen the information at was briefed to mr. Sullivan, but as you know, i talk to the minister every week, and i would expect that he would detail the information in that. Ill talk to Jake Sullivan as a. But because of that, i wont ec to whether or not it meets any kind of requirements, but again, weve been clear about what we think is very, very important, and that is to make sure that the civilians that are in that battle space are moved out of the battle s any activity occurs in that city. Weapns. Gen. Brown our focus for to use the capabilities, tiply things th typically things that impact close battles. Were paying attention on whats on in kharkiv. I wont publicly talk about what i might advise, but as we continue to support them, ill continue to work with the secretary as we make recommendations going f but the key point is using the capabilities that we provided them in the close battles areas that they are doing on the fronts that theyre operating as as into crimea. Washington post. Reporter nice to see you all. This question is for both of you regarding going back to the rafa operation and following up on the announcing plans as recently as todayex the rafah operation. And meanwhile, people that we y that they perceive what is alread fullfledged operation, at least thats the perception on the ground. Given the biden administrations statement that it will not support a fullfledged invasion of rafah without a evacuation andumanarian plan, are you prepared to declare its a fullfledged invasion if these actions go ahead . Do you think theres a danger that the i. D. F. Could sort of make sort of gradual expansion and incremental push into rafah in a way that falls sh a giant charge into the city and potentially try to avoid the u. Consequences that have been threatened . Sec. Austin y again, ive seen what was reported that the minister said. Forward to talkim about what his plans really are and also talking with Jake Sullivan well. I really dont want to speculate as to whether or not this is or is not or will be a larger operation. I really would like to s wt they intend to do. But what we would like to see, is protection of those civilians that are in the battle space, move them out, but not only move them out, but make sure that wherever they go, wherever you mov them to, that you have provisions for them to takez6 care of them, water, shelter, those typesthin. Ive said before that, in my view, there have b many civilian casualties in this fight, and we need to see something done a lot differently. And even if there■ are, if there is kinetic activity, if there is an operation that is conducted, thats larger,e certainly would like to see things done differently,ise and less destruction of the civilian structures and more protection civilian population. Gen. Bro i would echo very much what the secretary said. All my conversations with my counter , its very much the same. Be able to communicate with us what their intendo we understand how theyre approaching it, but at the same time, being able to take care of the and not just move them out, but move them into whe shelter, have food, and thats continually message to fox. Unterpart. Reporter secretary austin, the former acting deputy secretary of state who just stepped down saidesterday on the sunday shows that the Administration Needs a new ukraine strategy, and she said, i think if the attacks are coming directlym over the line in russia, that those bases ought to be fair game. I think its time to give the ukrainians more help hitting these bases inside russia. Do you agree with her assessment . Sec. Austin i agree with what theirman just said, jennifer, and that is that view their focus ought to be on the close fight and making sure that theyre servicing thoseat s in the close fight. And weave been that way throughout weve been that way throughout, and that will be my view going forward. Reporter general, is there anything nato can do to forts to expand their influence . How does this affect whats happening in georgia rht how does it affect georgias pathway to briefly concerned of watching the in in georgia, and well remain committed to georgias sovereignty. As i met last week with my nato counterparts, work for the sovereignty of the nations that are partner nato, but also just the ovecuri situa. Reporter will this affect georgias admis t pathway to nato . Gen. Brown im not in the policy decision making, but from my perspective as a uniformed Service Member, its about ensuring the security of the various nations, but also the security of the the nation as well. Aljazeera. Reporter t you. You mention the prosecutor todat netanyahu of israel and your counterpart over accusation of war crimes and crimes against humanity in gaza. My if i question, will your administration case, ailate this case . The second question is, the u. S. Main supporter of is, light of this case, will you reconsider the to israel, some of which have been used to kill Palestinian Civilians according to president thank you. Sec. Austin so ive spr reports of the i. C. C. Seeking but i dont have anything to provide on that issue. Again, our focus continues to be on provi it needs to defend itself. Thats been6o our focus from the very beginning, and as President Biden has said a number times, our support to israel remains ironcl i think its important to reflect back to how thi got started. This brutal attackoc 7, you know, a n of israeli and american civilians were killed in that assault, in that terrorist attack, and there were over 230 hostages taken. Half hostages remain in custody. Know, again, our focus remains o providing support to israel in its efforts to defend we very much would like to see the hostages returned safely. In terms of the decision provide weapons to israel, again, i wont any type of speculation going forward, but again, my hope would be that we do whats necessary to protect civilians he battle space, and youll hear me say that over and over again. I dont think are incompatible. I think you can conduct military operations effectively and alsoe battlepaned a lot. The United States has learned a lot in terms of thi of and again, there are waysveral to do this where you can accoun. You can protect the people and also accomplish your objectives. Reporter general brownul you explain the inevitability of vi advisors in ukraine, working with ukrainian forcn yo explain about why that is necessary and what it would take to make that happen . An secretary austin, on the i. C. C. , president n called the arrest warrants outrageous. Artmt has said it wil work with the i. C. C. To provide evidence about ukraine. Is that work continu how does this decision affect those pentagon efforts . Thank you. Gen. Brown let me put that discussion into context. Before february of 2022, we had our u. S. Military members in there who are working and trainingh ukrainians. Thats not the case right now. When i said that we would be able to do that eventnce this conflict is over and were in a better place, then i would suld be able to bring them back in. Bugh■ e no plans to bring u. S. Trainers into ukraine. Sec. Austin on the question on the i. C. C. , said earlier, i dont have anything to add on reports that weve seen here recently. Regarding the question ofor noto provide support to the i. C. C. With respect to crimes that are committed in ukraine, yes, we continue tt time for a couple more. Lets go to npr. Reporter mr. Secretary, i want to go back to rafah. You received a detailed military plan from the israelis about the way. What about the humanitarian plan . You say you want them to care for hundreds of thousands of people displac food, shelter, medical care. Have they given you any indication about how they plan on doing that . Sec. Austin earlyn, received a conceptual brief on how they were going to put measures in place to take care of the population that moved out of that battle space. And e thind to support that plan, ive not seen those elements go into play. My view is theres more work to be done, and my view is also that this takes time. Again, those things need to be in place to take care opeople whenever they migrate from one place to another. Again, ive not seen evidence thathose things are in place yet. Can you give us a sense of the concept they gave you . I will leave that to the israelis to brief their concept. Its one thing to have a concept and some other thing to actually put into place. Je you said it is possible to conduct operations and help civilians in the battle space. Given your military experience, do you see do you think israel is conducting operations and accounting for civilians in the battle space . Idea of ukraine conducting strikes inside russia, can you confident that none of the longrange attacks that the u. S. Provided have been used to strike inside russian territory . Arding what israel is doing inside roff, what weve seen thus far is a limited ti focused on the rough of border crossing. N,port that they forward. Expand operation i look discussion with him to understandntended and how he will do that. Cilians accounted for and moved out of that battle space before anything happens. Weve beeea throughout. As you well know, i think before this fight kicked off in gaza, there was 275,000 were so people that lived in and around raab a. That number grew to 1. 20 5 million or so and thats a big jump. At people in a very compressed battle space, inficu. Urban combat is very intense and difficult to begin with. Unless you account for those d do things differently, i think yound to have a lot more casualties going forwardmethg we would like to see change. Ihat provided is that they have been that using these weapons in russia but in ukraine. The russians are flying bombers in russian territory with glide bombs that are having a devastatinne. Should ukrainians be able to use american air defenses to hit those russian bombers in russian territory . Again, you can diagram a number of Different Cases for whatever. We have been clear about providing ukraine equipment to fendts sovereign territory in the dynamics of the engagement, i leave it up to the experts butly, our expectation is that they provided on targets inside of ukraine. Dynamics are a bit different. Againt want to speculate on any one or any type of erat the podium. Final question over here . Mr. Secretary come are you concerned that iran wi t blame israel or the United States for the c that killed the president yesterday . Israel is conducting operations personal experience fighting terrorists, do you believe israel canie goaof fully eliminating hamas. Play in that crash. D thats a fact plain and simple. Are you afraid theyre going to blame israel . I wont speculate as to what eyblame. They have to conduct an investigation tohat the cause of the crash was. It could be a number of mechanical failure, pilot error. Our question about northern gaza, and based on experie, not only do you have to go in and clear out whatever atmo up against but hold the territory and stabilize it. Call it so that allowsheually repopulate areas if you are not there. That makes it more challenging for them ar able to meet their objective in defeating hamas. Its not just ane t organization, you have to think about the overall piece of being able to securer israel in the region will take a concerted effort not just from a military but its how we work the humanitaria which is ws on much on that and protecting e a there in gaza. Thank you very much, gentlemen. This concludes our press briefing, thank you. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, ntent and accuracy. E for its visit ncicap. Org] [captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2024] these iorder. This year, cspan celebrates 45 years of covering Congress Like no other. Since 1979 briry source for capitol hill, providing balanced, unfiltered coverage of government. We take it to where the policies are debated and decided with the support of americas cable companies. Cspan, 45 years and counting powered by cable. Joining mornings Michael Snell with the pill newspaper. Lets begin with we can congress and we will start with the senate. The headline from th. Com