Ambassador Reeker’s extraordinary career at the department has focused on the most challenging of our diplomatic endeavors. From his work on peace agreements to his tireless efforts to negotiate the release of detainees, to his work at this very podium, Ambassador Reeker’s efforts have stemmed the tides of conflict and changed lives for the better. On behalf of the department, we thank Phil for his service and wish him the best in the next chapter of his career. We will all miss him very much.
QUESTION: Could we stay in Asia? China – more on China and COVID. The World Health Organization said today that it believes that China is undercounting the COVID cases. Is that an assessment that the United States agrees with? And a little bit more broadly, how do you assess the role of the World Health Organization? The previous administration was not especially happy with the WHO’s performance at the start of COVID-19, at the start of the pandemic. How do you assess how the WHO is handling what’s going on right now?
This strategy has four priority lines of effort. First is promoting economic competitiveness and reducing wage gaps through well-paying, quality jobs; second is advancing care infrastructure and valuing domestic work; third is promoting entrepreneurship and financial and digital inclusion, including through trade and investment; and fourth is dismantling systemic barriers to women’s equitable participation in the economy.
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We are not going to characterize discussions between the PRC and the WHO. Those discussions took place yesterday. Senior WHO officials have, over the course of the day, characterized not only those discussions but their assessment of what they have seen, but more appropriately, what they have not seen from the PRC. We’ve seen the statement from the WHO’s emergencies director that the current numbers being published in China underrepresent the true impact of the disease in terms of hospital admissions, in terms of ICU admissions, particularly in terms of deaths. I believe the same official went on to say that we do not – we still do not have complete data. That, of course, is the WHO’s assessment. They are in the best position to make an assessment, because PRC officials recently took part in discussions with them, discussions that included a formal presentation.
But the point we’ve made repeatedly is that when COVID is spreading anywhere, but especially when COVID is spreading with such prevalence in a country as populous and as large as China, of course there is the potential for variants to emerge. We have seen variants emerge apparently from other regions of the world that have ultimately reached the United States. This is a transnational – all public health threats are, by their very definition, transnational. We want to do all we can to see to it that the PRC gets this under control and to put in place prudent steps so that we do everything we can to prevent the spread of any potential variants, should they emerge beyond any country’s borders.
MR PRICE: That is right.
QUESTION: Did —
But this is a shared concern we have. It is a concern we share with Afghanistan’s neighbors, including Pakistan. In this case, Pakistan, of course, has suffered tremendous violence owing to the threats that are – that have in many cases emanated from Afghanistan. So we are committed to working with partners, but President Biden also has a commitment to act unilaterally if and when necessary as we did just a few months ago with Ayman al-Zawahiri to take out threats that emerge in Afghanistan that potentially present a threat to the United States, to our allies, and to our interests.
QUESTION: Any update on that sanctions waiver?
MR PRICE: I don’t have anything to add when it comes to personnel. But I do have something to emphasize when it comes to policy, and that is what I said at the top. This in no way diminishes our commitment to promoting a secure, stable, democratic, and prosperous South Caucasus region.
QUESTION: But not including the UN?
MR PRICE: So Jarrett is a Department of Energy National Nuclear Safety[1] Administration employee, and after nearly two years on detail – that is to say, he was on loan from DOE to the Department of State – he is returning to his home agency, where he will be managing special projects for the Secretary of Energy and the NNSA administrator. The Department of Energy is a critical partner in shaping U.S. policy on Iran’s nuclear program, and in his new role, Jarrett will remain involved in this issue, and returning to his home agency after two years is a normal personnel move.
MR PRICE: Yeah.
QUESTION: Can I ask a question on Iran?
QUESTION: Okay.
The embassy began expanding consular services in May of 2022 by expanding immigrant visas for parents of U.S. citizens, and in July of 2022 expanded to include all other categories of immediate relatives – relative immigrant visas, including spouses and minor children of U.S. citizens as well. Additionally, in August of last year DHS resumed processing cases in Havana under the Cuban Family Reunification Program. The – we remain committed to facilitating the safe, orderly, and regular migration of Cuban citizens to the United States.
MR PRICE: I am just not going to weigh in on a hypothetical. Of course, too many Pakistanis have – the lives of too many Pakistanis have been taken as a result of cross-border violence. The terrorist threat emanating from Afghanistan has in the past not only presented a threat to Pakistan but to the region and, in some cases, as we know all too well, well beyond. So these are questions for the Pakistani Government. We are a partner to Pakistan, but ultimately its decisions are its decisions.
MR PRICE: I’m not going to —
QUESTION: Well, but really – I’m sorry, I don’t want to drag this out any more, but just can you find out when you say you want – what you want is reciprocity, are you – in terms of presence in each other’s country? That does not include the UN, does it?
MR PRICE: We’re certainly aware of these reports. This is something that we’re focused on. As you know, our approach has been to deprive, to systematically starve Russia of the inputs that it needs to prosecute its brutal war of aggression against the people of Ukraine. And so reports that Russia has been able to get its hands on needed components from Western countries, potentially even including the United States, that’s something that we’re taking a close look at. It’s something that we’re engaging private industry with. Supply chain security is something that’s especially important in a case like this to ensure that vendors know where their products are going, to ensure that we share information as appropriate and relevant with the private sector as well. And if there are additional steps we can take, including additional export restrictions, that’s something we’ll take a close look at as well.
QUESTION: Thanks so much. Moving to Russia, I’m sure you have seen the media reports that Putin – reports on Putin sending new hypersonic cruise missiles to Atlantic. There are also reports that the ship would also sail in the Mediterranean Sea. Just was wondering if the department has any position on that.
So the fact that we have been able to augment our staffing posture at our embassy in Havana is a signal that we are confident in our ability to mitigate the risks, confident in our ability to take prudent steps to protect our people. But this is something we evaluate and re-evaluate on a – virtually a daily basis.
MR PRICE: I don’t have a date to announce just yet, but it is an important opportunity for the Secretary, for the Secretary of Defense, to engage with their Indian counterparts every single year. It’s an opportunity to discuss the breadth of our Global Strategic Partnership that we have with India. The Secretary will of course have probably several opportunities to travel to India over the course of the year, given India’s hosting of the G20 – something we look forward to taking part and certainly look forward to a successful G20 under India’s auspices.
MR PRICE: Look, right now our focus is on the protests, our focus is on what Iran is providing to Russia and what in turn Russia is doing with those materials and wares to the people of Ukraine.
MR PRICE: Matt, a couple of things. We have made no bones about the fact the Taliban have failed. They have either been unable or unwilling to live up to the commitments that they have made to the United States, but more importantly to —
MR PRICE: That’s right.
QUESTION: Well, then why don’t you prove to them that they can’t have it both ways?
MR PRICE: Yeah.
MR PRICE: Yes.
QUESTION: But Pakistan – but the U.S. is not, like, encouraging Pakistan to take such action? That’s – if I’m correct on that, the U.S. is not encouraging that Pakistan should take action.
MR PRICE: This is a threat that Pakistan itself faces, going back to what I was telling your colleague just a moment ago. Militants, terrorist groups operating in the border regions, operating inside Afghanistan, have claimed far too many Pakistani lives. Of course, Pakistan has every right to defend itself. This is ultimately, in some cases, a shared threat to the region, and it’s one we take very seriously, as do our Pakistani partners, of course.
QUESTION: Because if you’re going to – because if you’re going to add – if you’re going to say that the Russians need to give you the same amount as they have in New York and in Washington —
MR PRICE: We have a position on the underlying issue. As you heard me say yesterday, we stand firmly for preservation of the historic status quo with respect to the holy sites in Jerusalem. Any unilateral actions that depart from that historic status quo is unacceptable. To your question, if a member of the Security Council requests a meeting on this issue, as seems to have happened, we will be ready to reiterate our views to our fellow Security Council members.
QUESTION: Well, I know. Yes, yeah. But it was like a very small reference.
MR PRICE: Sure. We – the CDC, I should say – when it announced the pre-departure COVID testing requirement for travelers coming from the PRC, made a couple points. The CDC recommended this approach because of the spread of COVID within the PRC, the prevalence of COVID within the PRC, but also because of the lack of adequate and transparent epidemiological and viral genomic sequence data being reported from the PRC. It’s the lack of transparency that has compounded our concern for the potential for a variant to emerge in the PRC and potentially to spread well beyond its borders.
Yes.
MR PRICE: Of course. There is no denying that Iran presents one of the most complex challenges we face. That has been the case over the course of successive administrations. Its nuclear program has been the focus of successive administrations. Its malign activities throughout the Middle East and in some cases potentially even beyond has been the focus of successive administrations, as it has been during this administration. And now what it is doing to its own people – the repression, the violence that it’s perpetrating against the brave Iranians who are taking to the streets; and the military support, the security assistance that it’s providing to Russia – all of these are compounded and represent what is undeniably one of the most difficult challenges we face.
QUESTION: Right.
MR PRICE: I’d refer you to the Department of Defense for any particular position on this. From here, it is not our practice to weigh in on propaganda exercises.
QUESTION: — at any level?
MR PRICE: Well, diplomacy is never a risk-free endeavor, and our goal— is never a risk-free endeavor.
MR PRICE: So a couple things on this, Matt. The event this morning was to launch the U.S. Strategy on Global Women’s Economic Security. This is an agenda that, as I detailed at the top, has several proactive and affirmative elements. Unfortunately, our work when it comes to supporting the women and girls of Afghanistan right now is focused, first and foremost, on seeking to mitigate the harms that the Taliban has inflicted on the women and girls of Afghanistan. This is a strategy that applies to women and girls around the world – to developed countries, developing countries alike. It is with a great degree of remorse that we say that women and girls in Afghanistan are, unfortunately, in a category unto their own.
MR PRICE: So a couple things on this, Matt. The event this morning was to launch the U.S. Strategy on Global Women’s Economic Security. This is an agenda that, as I detailed at the top, has several proactive and affirmative elements. Unfortunately, our work when it comes to supporting the women and girls of Afghanistan right now is focused, first and foremost, on seeking to mitigate the harms that the Taliban has inflicted on the women and girls of Afghanistan. This is a strategy that applies to women and girls around the world – to developed countries, developing countries alike. It is with a great degree of remorse that we say that women and girls in Afghanistan are, unfortunately, in a category unto their own.
MR PRICE: So a couple things on this, Matt. The event this morning was to launch the U.S. Strategy on Global Women’s Economic Security. This is an agenda that, as I detailed at the top, has several proactive and affirmative elements. Unfortunately, our work when it comes to supporting the women and girls of Afghanistan right now is focused, first and foremost, on seeking to mitigate the harms that the Taliban has inflicted on the women and girls of Afghanistan. This is a strategy that applies to women and girls around the world – to developed countries, developing countries alike. It is with a great degree of remorse that we say that women and girls in Afghanistan are, unfortunately, in a category unto their own.
MR PRICE: So a couple things on this, Matt. The event this morning was to launch the U.S. Strategy on Global Women’s Economic Security. This is an agenda that, as I detailed at the top, has several proactive and affirmative elements. Unfortunately, our work when it comes to supporting the women and girls of Afghanistan right now is focused, first and foremost, on seeking to mitigate the harms that the Taliban has inflicted on the women and girls of Afghanistan. This is a strategy that applies to women and girls around the world – to developed countries, developing countries alike. It is with a great degree of remorse that we say that women and girls in Afghanistan are, unfortunately, in a category unto their own.
MR PRICE: So a couple things on this, Matt. The event this morning was to launch the U.S. Strategy on Global Women’s Economic Security. This is an agenda that, as I detailed at the top, has several proactive and affirmative elements. Unfortunately, our work when it comes to supporting the women and girls of Afghanistan right now is focused, first and foremost, on seeking to mitigate the harms that the Taliban has inflicted on the women and girls of Afghanistan. This is a strategy that applies to women and girls around the world – to developed countries, developing countries alike. It is with a great degree of remorse that we say that women and girls in Afghanistan are, unfortunately, in a category unto their own.
QUESTION: So finally, back to (inaudible) question, is the administration reconsidering whether or not to keep the Iran negotiator position now that we know the President said the deal is dead, unless the word “dead” has different meaning in this building?
MR PRICE: Look, I’m not going to characterize the U.S. political system. I will just say that there is a process that is being hewed to right now by elected lawmakers. We saw Americans turn out – in some cases in record numbers – in the midterm elections to vote for the 118th Congress. That 118th Congress is now taking part in the process that is set out in the bylaws of the House of Representatives. That in itself is a testament to the functioning of democracy, even if that functioning may be taking just a little bit longer than it has in the past hundred years or so.
MR PRICE: I’m not aware that we’ve made any formal decision regarding the Quartet or any formal statement regarding the Quartet. Of course, the Quartet is focused on Israeli-Palestinian issues. We have made no secret about the fact that, in our estimation, we are not on the precipice of any meaningful engagement between Israelis and Palestinians towards that two-state solution. Our focus, therefore, has been on doing what we can in the interim to help set the conditions: re-engaging with the Palestinian Authority, re-engaging with the Palestinian people, continuing to maintain our ironclad commitment to Israel’s security, continuing to advance and deepen our partnership with Israel, all in ways that over time we hope will help create the conditions for meaningful progress towards that ultimate end goal of a two-state solution.
MR PRICE: Yes.
MR PRICE: He has done a lot in his career.
QUESTION: The Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan threatens the top Pakistani political leadership, including Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari. I hope you have seen their statement?
Karen Donfried, our assistant secretary for Europe and Eurasian Affairs, also plays a leading role in these efforts. But it is something that we will remain committed to going forward.
QUESTION: Thank you. Several months before, Secretary Blinken had spoken about that he will take steps to reduce the visa backlog in India. Instead of decreasing, it’s gone up to more than thousand days, sometimes 1,200 days. What steps the U.S. is taking to reduce those visa backlog, because this is impacting people-to-people and business-to-business ties between the two countries?
Nazira.
And because of all of this, the Ukrainians are and have been able to demonstrate their efficacy on the battlefield. They have been putting to extraordinary use the weapons and the supplies that the United States and our partners around the world have provided to them. We’ve seen evidence of that success and efficacy even in recent days.
Yes, Alex.
MR PRICE: It’s clear that this has been an enduring challenge. It’s been an enduring challenge for the United States, for NATO, but certainly for Afghanistan’s neighbors, who have often most frequently been the victims of attacks that have emanated from Afghanistan. Pakistan is a close partner, a close security partner. We work closely together to do what is appropriate to confront shared and mutual threats as well as shared opportunities, but I’m not going to speak to any plans or operations that the Pakistanis may be taking or contemplating.
MR PRICE: We would only weigh in on the side of freedom of expression, and freedom of expression is a value, it is a universal right that we protect, we uphold, we promote the world over, whether that’s in France, whether that’s in Iran, whether that’s anywhere in between.
QUESTION: Yes, hi. The Libyan minister of oil and gas is in town, in D.C. Does he have any scheduled meeting at the department?
MR PRICE: That’s right. That’s right.
Let me – yes.
MR PRICE: Well, I can share our view on what you raised. We are concerned about the DPRK’s apparent disregard of the 2018 Comprehensive Military Agreement and calls – and we call on it to end its irresponsible and escalatory behavior. The DPRK has continued to engage in a series of provocations, including the ones that you alluded to. Regarding a possible abrogation of this Comprehensive Military Agreement, we’d have to refer you to the ROK Government on that.
MR PRICE: Sure.
QUESTION: One more on Iran.
QUESTION: Thank you. Can I change topics?
MR PRICE: — the people of Afghanistan.
MR PRICE: I don’t have anything to add on that.
QUESTION: But can you give us more – can you give more efforts, other than the phone calls, to convince the Azerbaijanis, Armenians, and Georgians that that will be the case moving forward?
MR PRICE: The UN is not a —
MR PRICE: We do. You’re referring, I believe, to the Homesh outpost in the West Bank.
MR PRICE: With this, I think it’s important that we not lose sight of the bigger picture. Terrorism remains a scourge that has taken, as I said before, so many Pakistani, Afghans, and other innocent lives. The United States and Pakistan do indeed have a shared interest in ensuring that the Taliban live up to the commitments and that terrorist groups like ISIS-K, like the TTP, like al-Qaida are no longer able to threaten regional security. But for questions regarding their plans, I would need to refer you to Pakistani authorities.
MR PRICE: And the Taliban – the —
QUESTION: Right. Thanks. And let me just add to your congratulations on Phil’s retirement. You should have mentioned that higher up, I think – that he was the deputy spokesman —
Yes.
MR PRICE: Let me go to Nazira, and then I’ll come to you, Said.
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