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U.S. Department of Defense Press Operations News Transcript |
| Secretary of Defense Ash Carter; Italian Minister of Defense Roberta Pinotti | October 07, 2015 |
(JOINED IN PROGRESS)
MINISTER OF DEFENSE ROBERTA PINOTTI (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): And as I said yesterday, during my parliamentary hearing, as far as further commitments by Italy on different issues, we are assessing the situation. And no decision will be taken without parliamentary approval.
Thank you again, for having dedicated such a long time to Italy, and I hope that you enjoy your visit here.
SECRETARY OF DEFENSE ASH CARTER: Thank you very much, Madam Minister. And Buongiorno, everyone.
My colleague, Defense Minister Pinotti. Thank you for that introduction. And my deepest thanks to you and to the Italian people for your warm hospitality over these two days -- today in Rome, yesterday at Sigonella.
And to you, Minister Pinotti, I appreciate not only your hospitality, here at your ministry in Rome, but your strong and steady leadership in the world, as well as your friendship.
Earlier today, I had very productive meetings, both with Minister Pinotti and with President Mattarella.
(CROSSTALK)
MIN. PINOTTI (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): I'm sorry. I'm sorry.
SEC. CARTER: Okay. We affirm our mutual dedication to the enduring security partnership between our nations, and also our shared resolve to confront the challenges we face together in today's changing strategic environment.
As President Obama said in April, Italy is one of our closest and strongest allies. It's a critical partner for the United States and a steadfast anchor for NATO's southern flank.
We admire that Italy is active all around the world, from leading efforts in North Africa to contributing to NATO's Baltic Air Policing Mission, to commanding forces in Afghanistan, the Balkans, Lebanon and Iraq.
Yesterday, Minister Pinotti and I visited Sigonella, where Italy hosts nearly 2,000 American service members and their families, along with other NATO forces. This strategically important base serves as a launch pad for some of our most agile forces which conduct crisis response, theater security cooperation and reconnaissance missions in Africa, Europe and the Mediterranean.
And we look forward to Sigonella hosting the NATO Allied Ground Surveillance System next summer, which will provide NATO with transformational intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance assets that will benefit all allies, including those here in the southern flank.
Another example of Italy's contributions to NATO's adaptation is exercise Trident Juncture 2015, which it is currently hosting, along with Spain and Portugal. Trident Juncture is the largest NATO exercise in over a decade and will test a variety of capabilities, including the Very High Readiness Joint Task Force, which Italy has offered to lead in the future.
Today's security environment requires the kind of strong and principled security cooperation we share with Italy and all of our fellow NATO allies. Italy understands the need to invest in the people and capabilities required to maintain its historic role across the globe and our common defense as we work together with our NATO allies to confront all the threats we face, from the both the south and the east and across the globe, because unity is the essence of our alliance and maintaining it is the only way to succeed in keeping our nations secure in the 21st century.
Let me also say a few words about Russian activities in Syria, given the suggestion in the media that the counter -- counter-ISIL coalition is cooperating with the Russians in Syria. I have said before that we believe Russia has the wrong strategy. They continue to hit targets that are not ISIL. We believe this is a fundamental mistake. Despite what the Russians say, we have not agreed to cooperate with Russia, so long as they continue to pursue mistaken strategy and hit these targets.
What we will do is continue basic, technical discussions on professional safety procedures for our pilots flying about Syria. That's it. But we will keep the channel open, because it's a matter of security and safety for our pilots.
Minister Pinotti, I want to thank you personally, once again, for your hospitality, for your friendship, for your leadership, and I look forward to seeing you again tomorrow at our NATO ministerial in Brussels.
Thank you.
MIN. PINOTTI (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): Are there any questions?
Q: (UNTRANSLATED)
TRANSLATOR: I'm going to translate the question first. The question is for Minister Pinotti.
Q (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): Since the issue has been raised about new commitment opportunities that are being assessed by the Italian government, are there any timelines for this new commitment?
Do they involve only the four Tornadoes that are now deployed in the Middle East?
And would a positive position to undertake new commitment influence the recognition of a leading role for Italy in case -- in the Libyan situation?
MIN. PINOTTI (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): And the minister started by reiterating that Italy has always been present in the international coalition. That we started by providing some military equipment, and trainers and coordinated forces. And our contingent in the coalition is one of the biggest ones.
And I am reiterating that we have been taking part in the coalition since the very beginning, not only based on the -- of our governmental assessment, but based on a vast majority of the parliament, because what we are doing is countering ISIL, it is countering the danger represented by ISIL for the future security of our country, but not only for the security of the world. Therefore, the issue is that we have decided, together with our allies, to counter ISIL with a strong action.
The assets we have provided were very important, and we have further sent there and provided a Carabinieri unit. But the coalition and the Iraqi government right now are sending a message that we must be stronger. We must be very determined in our action to counter ISIL. This is a shared objective, but it has not been established yet whether new assets will be provided and the -- the government has no specific orientation in this sector. Otherwise, we would have informed the parliament, the Italian parliament, before informing you here.
There is no connection with possible leadership role in Libya. What we're doing with Libya is we are supporting the air force of the special envoy of the U.N., Bernardino Leon, and his asset. There is no connection between what we're saying today and our leadership role in Libya. We are waiting to see what happens, and we'll see what we can do.
Q: Hi. Gordon Lubold with the Wall Street Journal.
Mr. Secretary, I'm wondering if you could expand on your answer a little bit about Russia, given that the Russians have expressed an interest in continuing discussions, at least on coordination? Can you talk a little bit more about their -- how realistic it is, given the level of mistrust between Moscow and Washington now, to expect that you can work with them on coordination? And are you ruling out any other form of cooperation down the road? And then I have a question for the Minister.
SEC. CARTER: Okay. Two things.
TRANSLATOR: Let me --
SEC. CARTER: Please go ahead.
Gordon, let's see. With respect to the second part of your question first, we are not prepared to cooperate in a strategy, which is we explained, is flawed, tragically flawed on the Russian's part. And that is why I said the United States is not cooperating with Russia in that regard. What we are prepared to do and have sought a meeting to do is to agree on safety -- professional air safety procedures to make sure that -- that to protect our air crews and to continue as the coalition intends to do, its air campaign unchanged.
That much we have said, that we are willing to talk to the Russians about and you report that willingness on their part to have that kind of discussion, we have not heard back from them formally, and so we're still awaiting a formal response from Russia for discussions on that basis. But for now, that's the only basis for discussions that we have, because we continue to have a fundamental strategic disagreement and we believe that their strategy is fundamentally flawed.
Q (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): A question for both ministers. Your assessment about Afghanistan since this is an issue that is being discussed, and since the timeline for the withdraw is approaching, what can you say about it?
MIN. PINOTTI (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): Of course, we have also discussed Afghanistan, because, as you know, we still have a contingent in Herat and a unit in Kabul, so we have this constant situation.
We have both underscored how important it is to not leave Afghanistan alone. And in this regard, the decision that Italy took to continue its commitment in supporting the Italian, the -- sorry, Afghan Security Forces, also from the economic point of view, is an important issue.
The situation is being assessed on the ground. There are no new decisions, but we will discuss the matter again with our allies, and take decision at the right moment.
SEC. CARTER: Thank you. And let me just begin, since you raised the question of Afghanistan repeating something that General Campbell said yesterday and that I said yesterday, which is to express regret, and to -- for the United States to take responsibility for any mistakes that resulted in the loss of innocent life in Kunduz in recent days.
We're conducting a full and transparent investigation, and we'll make the findings of the investigation known as they are found. And we'll hold accountable any responsible for conduct that was improper in this connection.
But the main thing is, to the -- to the people of Afghanistan, and above all, to the families of innocent people who lost their lives in that incident, our sincere regret.
And as Minister Pinotti said, there are no new decisions on that regard -- in that regard -- sorry, in regard to the future in Afghanistan, although I expect that to be discussed when the defense ministers meet tomorrow at NATO.
And the NATO alliance and other members of the coalition in Afghanistan have made a commitment to stick with Afghanistan in the years ahead. I don't think there's any doubt about that.
And that includes both support for the Afghan Security Forces and support for development in Afghanistan, and a presence in places and in numbers that will be determined in the future.
But all of that, the members of the coalition are prepared to do, and have committed to do with Afghanistan, so that we can make successful the transition to security self sufficiency and prosperity -- as well as a decent life for their citizens of Afghanistan that Italy, the United States and the rest of us in the NATO alliance have sacrificed so much effort and blood for over the last many years.
Q: Bill Hennigan, Los Angeles Times.
It seems, secretary, that the Syrian regime has entered a new phase of the war with Assad's forces coordinating ground maneuvers with Russian air support overhead. And now warships in the Caspian Sea, reportedly.
Is this concerning? And have U.S.-backed forces been targeted?
And for the minister, did the arrival of Russian forces inside Syria play a role in Italy's reassessing contributions to the ISIL coalition? And if so, how?
SEC. CARTER: Well, yeah, we -- of course we remain concerned about Syrian military activities, violence -- I'm sorry. You want to go ahead? Go ahead.
You're saying that -- of course, we remain -- we have long been concerned about the Assad regime's use of violence against its own people and to the extent that Russia enables that, that's a fundamental reason why we believe the Russians are making a mistake in their actions in Syria. And the Russians, as -- as we've indicated and my statement indicated, are not just targeting ISIL, they're targeting other groups in Syria, and that's another reason why we think they're way off base in their strategic approach.
MIN. PINOTTI (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): As you know, Italy is committed with the anti-ISIL coalition is Iraq, and Italy is there, not always as a part of the anti-ISIL coalition, but because Iraq has a government, an officially recognized government, that has asked for our commitment.
As far as Syria is concerned, the situation is completely different. Of course, we hope that all efforts against ISIL can be intensified, and we hope that the situation can transition to a clearer -- to establish a clearer situation. Again, only at that point, we may assess again whether there is something to be done by Italy. But as things stand now, we are not committed in Syria.
Thank you, everybody. We must end this press conference, because the secretary must leave.
http://www.defense.gov/News/News-Transcripts/Transcript-View/Article/622309/
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