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Daily Press Briefing

John Kirby
Spokesperson
Daily Press Briefing
Washington, DC
March 22, 2016

Index for Today's Briefing

BELGIUM/REGION/DEPARTMENT
RUSSIA/UKRAINE
BELGIUM/REGION/DEPARTMENT
NORTH KOREA/SOUTH KOREA/REGION
IRAQ
TURKEY
CHINA/DEPARTMENT
DEPARTMENT

 

TRANSCRIPT:

2:08 p.m. EDT

MR KIRBY: Hello, everybody. So if I could, I want to start this afternoon with just a few remarks about the terrorist attacks in Brussels today. You've seen the President's remarks as well as the Secretary's statement. Secretary Kerry said today's attacks in Brussels are an assault against the Belgian people and the very heart of Europe. Our thoughts are with all those affected by this violence – the injured, the missing, and the families of those whose lives were taken.

You've also seen that Secretary Kerry spoke by phone this morning with his Belgian counterpart. He made it clear to Foreign Minister Reynders that we stand with the people of Belgium in this difficult time and that we will assist in whatever way they require efforts to bring the perpetrators to justice. He also praised the courage and skill of Belgian first responders, many of whom are still on the job right now.

We've seen claims by Daesh that they were responsible for these attacks. We cannot confirm the veracity of those claims, though clearly we believe that this terrorist group remains capable of this sort of depravity. It's important, we believe, to let investigators do their work and let the facts take them where they may.

Our embassy in Brussels continues to make every effort to account for the welfare of U.S. citizens in the city, including all government personnel. That work is ongoing. We know that a number of U.S. citizens were injured in the attacks, but we do not have an accurate figure right now. We do not know of any U.S. deaths at this point. I would note that it is still early on and that the situation is, understandably, still fluid and still uncertain. When we have more information that we can speak to, we will. At this time however, we have asked all U.S. citizens in Brussels who can to shelter in place, avoid all public transportation, and contact their loved ones as best they are able. We're also asking U.S. citizens there to follow the instructions of local authorities and monitor the media for further developments.

Today reminds us, all too sadly, of the threat still posed by terrorists around the world, but it also underscores our commitment to, and with our allies and partners, to defeating these groups and their hateful ideology.

Now on to the case of Nadiya Savchenko. I think you may have seen the statement we just put out, but if not, I'd like to repeat it here:

The conviction and sentencing of Nadiya Savchenko to 22 years imprisonment show a blatant disregard for the principles of justice and contravene Russia's commitments under the Minsk agreements.

For nearly two years, Russia has unjustly detained Savchenko on charges that have no basis in fact and has denied her the basic protections of the rule of law. She has reportedly endured interrogation, solitary confinement, and forced "psychiatric evaluation."

Nadiya Savchenko deserves to go home to her family and friends and to join her colleagues in the Rada in building a better future for their country. We reiterate our call on Russia to immediately release Nadiya Savchenko and other unlawfully detained people.

With that, Matt.

QUESTION: Let's start with Brussels. I realize that you don't have a full or complete count of Americans injured, but how many do you know of at least?

MR KIRBY: Yeah, I'm going to avoid giving a specific number because the number --

QUESTION: Yeah, why can't you just say the number that you have confirmed and qualify it by saying it's incomplete and it could rise? The U.S. military has already spoken about one service member and the family. The Mormon Church has spoken. If the State Department is not able to give even a preliminary, albeit incomplete, count, why? Why?

MR KIRBY: Because there isn't a confirmed count right now, Matt.

QUESTION: You don't have a confirmed count of the --

MR KIRBY: The number keeps fluctuating, as you might expect it will in a situation that is this fluid.

QUESTION: So is it possible to go down?

MR KIRBY: I don't know, Matt. I don't know. And it would be irresponsible for me to give out a number now when the numbers are actually changing literally by the hour. So we know of a number that have been injured and we need to, again, let the medical people do what they need to do to patch these folks up and also to get --

QUESTION: I really don't understand why you could not give a number that you know for sure and say then that, look, this is early.

MR KIRBY: Because we don't have a number we know for sure right now, Matt. There's estimates – estimates only – and they keep changing, and they go up and they go down and they have all day. And I am simply not going to give out an estimate even that I know is going to be inaccurate in less than an hour from now. When we have better information – and I would just remind you that this just happened a few hours ago. When we have better information, as I said in my opening statement, we will gladly and happily provide it to you.

QUESTION: Can you say that you can – that you know of the three missionaries, Mormon missionaries that the church has talked about?

MR KIRBY: I can't confirm specific individuals.

QUESTION: Do you – but so far you know that there's no one – no U.S. citizens reported killed?

MR KIRBY: As of this moment, we know of no U.S. deaths.

QUESTION: The U.S. has offered help in the investigation. Can you elaborate more into what that – what kind of help you have promised?

MR KIRBY: Well, it was a general offer of assistance, Lesley, nothing specific. Again, when the Secretary got a hold of his counterpart there, it was really very, very soon after reports of the violence, and it was a short call, as you might expect. And again, our offer of help was more general in nature, not specific.

QUESTION: Okay.

MR KIRBY: Yeah.

QUESTION: U.S. is hosting Nuclear Security Summit next week --

MR KIRBY: Wait. Before we go, are we --

QUESTION: I have --

MR KIRBY: You want to do more on the – let's stay on Brussels, okay, if we can do that?

QUESTION: Okay, link to Brussels.

MR KIRBY: Go ahead.

QUESTION: Yeah. Have you been able to account for all chief-of-mission personnel, U.S. personnel to international organizations in the city?

MR KIRBY: As I said in my opening statement, the work of accounting for U.S. citizens in the city, including government personnel, is ongoing. So as far as I know, that effort has not been completed.

QUESTION: John, when you say a number of U.S. citizens were injured, do any of them – are you aware that any of them have life-threatening injuries?

MR KIRBY: I don't have any information with any detail about the scope of injuries. We know that some U.S. citizens were injured in these attacks, but I just don't have additional info right now.

QUESTION: Are there any U.S. citizens who are hospitalized?

MR KIRBY: I don't know. I honestly don't know the condition.

QUESTION: Is the United States helping Belgium in the investigation, recognizing the people who --

MR KIRBY: I think I just answered that question. As I said, the Secretary in his phone call with the foreign minister this morning offered U.S. assistance in the investigation and, frankly, in whatever way the Belgian Government might require. I'm not aware of any requests for U.S. assistance at this time, either investigative or any other way, but we stand ready to assist as needed.

QUESTION: Will the --

QUESTION: Can I just ask one general question? We're having a lot of criticism of the failure of the world intelligence, including the U.S. intelligence, when we see attacks like this happen. I mean, what do you make of that criticism? Don't you think the European and even U.S. intelligence have failed to detect that attack at this scale located in Belgium?

MR KIRBY: Within just hours of something like this happening, I think everybody's attention is rightly on trying to take care of those who are hurt, trying to recover those who are missing, trying to communicate with loved ones, and to try to secure not just the scenes at which the violence occurred but other areas of the city to make sure that public safety is maintained as best as possible. That's what everybody's mind is on. There'll be an investigation of this. As I said, we've offered whatever assistance might be required. And we'll let the investigators sort through this, and I'm sure that in that process there will be lessons learned and we'll wait for that, we'll await that work.

QUESTION: Does the Secretary plan to stop either in Brussels anytime soon or any other place where he might send a message to Daesh or any other group that might have something similar in mind?

MR KIRBY: As you know, the Secretary – he's in Cuba right now. He'll be leaving for Moscow this evening for a meeting with Russian officials and President Putin later this week. I don't have any additional travel this week or in the coming days to speak to right now.

QUESTION: (Off-mike.)

MR KIRBY: Are we still on Brussels?

QUESTION: Yes, please.

MR KIRBY: Let's stay on Brussels for just – let's stay on this and then we'll move off of it. Are you on Brussels? Go ahead.

QUESTION: I'm --

MR KIRBY: I'll come back to you.

QUESTION: Hi. Just looking at the big picture, I mean, in the past have you talked with European governments in the past about security measures? Have you sort of had concerns that maybe they're not as strict as the U.S.? Is this a warning that there needs to be further action when you look at Paris, London, Brussels, and so on?

MR KIRBY: Well, again, I think everybody's focus right now is on trying to take care of those who were hurt. The investigation is just getting underway in Brussels and I don't want to get ahead of that, of that process. I'm sure that in the investigation they'll learn things, and maybe they'll learn things that can be applied to future measures going forward. Again, I don't want to prejudice that effort right now.

But as we've seen here in America that terrorism is a difficult threat to thwart. We have to be right every day of the year, every hour of the day. Groups like – whoever conducted this, but terrorist groups only have to be right once. And so it's a very difficult challenge to grapple with, with 100 percent success.

What I can tell you though is certainly here at the State Department we're committed to contributing to interagency efforts to do that and international efforts. It's why we're working so hard on the coalition against Daesh in Iraq and Syria. It's why, quite frankly, that we hosted the Countering Violent Extremism Summit here at the State Department. And it's why Secretary Kerry makes such an effort to try to stem through – approach through political solutions the civil war in Syria, because that civil war, Bashar al-Assad's brutality, has allowed groups like Daesh to fester and grow in Iraq and Syria.

And I don't think – certainly today's deadly events brings home, sadly to people across Europe, particularly in Belgium, how real the threat is. And I don't – not that they needed to be reminded of that. I mean, even in Belgium they didn't need to be reminded of that. But I'm sure that they're – that they have taken the threat seriously before today and they will certainly do what they need to do. Once they learn what really happened here, they'll apply those lessons learned going in the future. Everybody needs to continue to work hard against this threat, because again, as I said, they only have to be right once; we have to be right all the time.

QUESTION: And just a quick follow-up. Donald Trump was very quick to tweet about how this shows there's a problem with the Muslims, as he put it. I mean, when he does that, as the sort of frontrunner for a major party, does it undermine the diplomatic work you're trying to do?

MR KIRBY: Well, I haven't seen those comments. Certainly we wouldn't – and we've talked about public comments on the campaign trail and the impact that they are or are not having. I let the candidates speak for themselves about their views. Our view is that what this shows – and I said this in my opening statement – is that a group like Daesh – and again, I'm not saying they're responsible for this; they've claimed it – but a group like this is still capable of this kind of violence. And we have to take that threat seriously, and we are. And it's something that we have approached not only here in the United States from an interagency perspective, but overseas from an international perspective. Clearly we need to continue to look for ways to improve our capabilities against this threat, and we'll do that.

This isn't about a religion. This is about a warped and brutal, depraved ideology that continues to be attractive to a small number of people in the Muslim faith – radicals and extremists. And we don't believe that it is indicative in any way of the Muslim faith or the people who practice Islam as a religion. But it is a group that remains deadly, remains lethal. And we are going to remain focused on defeating them.

QUESTION: But how do you dissever the fact --

MR KIRBY: Let me go back here, okay?

QUESTION: Same issue.

MR KIRBY: Yeah. No, okay. But I'm going to go back here. Abbie, and I'll come to you.

QUESTION: Secretary Kerry was seemingly not in attendance with President Obama at the baseball game today in Havana. Can you say whether or not he originally intended to accompany the President? Has his schedule changed or has he left in order to prepare for Moscow?

MR KIRBY: I'll have to get an update from the travel team. I was not tracking his individual movements today in terms of what he was attending and what he wasn't. So why don't you let me get back to you on that.

Yeah.

QUESTION: Ali Watkins with BuzzFeed. Can you characterize at all what the intelligence sharing relationship was between the U.S. and Belgium post-Paris, prior to this attack? And when the Secretary says that America is willing to help with this investigation, is there room for more to be shared there?

MR KIRBY: I don't have specific information about intelligence-sharing relationships with other countries around the world. And as you might expect, we wouldn't be speaking to that in any great specificity here from the podium. We do have a very strong, close relationship with Belgian authorities and there is information shared between our two governments, as well as – I'm sure with other governments in Europe as well in terms of their coordination with Belgium. But I wouldn't speak to the details of that.

And your second question was do we think there needs to be a change in that relationship or --

QUESTION: Is there room for more to be shared?

MR KIRBY: Well, I mean, I think, again, we need to let the investigators do their work and kind of figure out what happened here before we can say definitively that process A needs to change or procedure B needs to be upgraded. I think we're going to, obviously, offer whatever assistance that they might require for this. And again, I know of no requests right now for U.S. help. But I think it's important to let them do their jobs, figure out what happened here. And then if there are gaps and seams that need to be closed or things that need to be done better, well then, certainly the United States would be solidly behind supporting whatever efforts come out of this.

Clearly these individuals were able to visit this kind of violence on innocent people going to work or traveling, so we need to figure out what happened here, how this could have occurred. And then and only then are we going to be able to try to determine what remedies there might be in the future.

QUESTION: Did the U.S. know of any – were there any indications that the U.S. knew of that this attack could take place?

MR KIRBY: I won't get into specific intelligence matters. I know of no specific warnings, but again, I'm reticent to speak about intelligence matters in general.

Yes.

QUESTION: Change of subject?

MR KIRBY: Yeah. You want to change subjects?

QUESTION: Yeah.

MR KIRBY: Okay. Are we good? All right.

QUESTION: Next week the State Department is hosting Nuclear Security Summit. What impact that would – this Brussels attack would have on Nuclear Security Summit in terms of security measures? Do you have any – how many head of states are coming? Do you have any --

MR KIRBY: Is your question given --

QUESTION: Yes.

MR KIRBY: Given the fact --

QUESTION: Brussels attack.

MR KIRBY: -- that these attacks happened at an airport, are we doing anything additional? I don't – well, let me put it this way: We obviously take security very, very seriously. I would refer you to DHS for measures that are taken here at home. Some measures you know are visible and some are invisible by design. But I know the United States Government takes physical security very, very seriously here in the country. We've also learned, through the tragedy of terrorism on our own soil, how important that is. I wouldn't speak to specific measures one way or another.

What I can say is that we're looking forward to having the Nuclear Security Summit here in Washington, D.C. The Secretary is looking forward to attending and to having opportunities to discuss that very important security issue with counterparts from around the world. So we're looking forward to it.

QUESTION: And would this – would terrorism come up as a major issue during the talks, during the deliberations next week?

MR KIRBY: Well, one of the things that's always an issue when you talk about nuclear security is the security of those kinds of systems, and we're always mindful that we would never want weapons of mass destruction to fall into the hands of terrorists, because we recognize what a real danger that is. So without getting into specific agenda items, I think clearly, issues of proliferation are a matter that's – that are constantly discussed, particularly when you're talking about nuclear security.

QUESTION: And do you know how many heads of states are coming? Do you have any --

MR KIRBY: I don't have an update for you. We can get that for you as we get a little closer to the summit itself. I just don't have a protocol update today.

Yeah.

QUESTION: Thank you, Mr. Kirby. South Korean Government said that North Korea can conduct fifth nuclear test anytime. If North Korea do this again, is – will that be a violation of UN Security Council resolutions?

MR KIRBY: Okay. Let me make sure I got this right. You're saying the South Korean Government, you're saying, said that they can – that the North can conduct --

QUESTION: Can conduct a fifth – yes, North can conduct a fifth nuclear test anytime, anytime soon.

MR KIRBY: Oh, can conduct another one --

QUESTION: Yes.

MR KIRBY: -- anytime soon?

QUESTION: Yes, sir.

MR KIRBY: I haven't seen those comments, and again, I wouldn't speak to intelligence matters one way or another from the podium. We're mindful of the regime's desire to pursue tests like this, including one purported one recently. I – but again, I wouldn't prognosticate in the future and certainly wouldn't speak to intelligence matters. But if you're asking me if they were to conduct another test --

QUESTION: Yes.

MR KIRBY: -- would it be a violation, absolutely, it would be. And then we would do as we've done before and take it up inside the UN.

QUESTION: And also another one that Sung Kim, Six-Party Talks special envoy, went to South Korea, talked with his counterpart, with Kim Hong-kyun. Is this – what kind of exceptional sanctions toward North Korea they agreed this time? Do you have any additional sanctions agreement between U.S. and South Korea, exceptional?

MR KIRBY: Well, he hasn't – he's on – he's traveling soon – I think you may have seen we put out a Media Note on this – and so I don't have a readout of his discussions right now. But as we put in our Media Note, he'll be meeting with his counterparts there in the Republic of Korea, Vietnam, and Cambodia on this trip. And he'll certainly be discussing UN Security Council Resolution 2270 and the international community's obligations to meeting that resolution and to enforcing its components. But again, I don't have a readout of the visit.

QUESTION: Follow-up?

MR KIRBY: Yeah.

QUESTION: On North Korea?

MR KIRBY: Yeah.

QUESTION: Okay. Can you confirm media reports that North Korea conducted a land test of submarine-launched missile last week?

MR KIRBY: No. We've seen those reports. I'm not in a position to confirm the veracity of them.

QUESTION: Even yesterday five times.

MR KIRBY: We've seen the – you're asking about the --

QUESTION: North Korea did test, five times yesterday.

MR KIRBY: We've seen reports that they launched ballistic missiles into the Sea of Japan. We're closely monitoring --

QUESTION: Yeah. Another one was yesterday, five times.

MR KIRBY: Yeah. We've seen the reports. We're monitoring it. We're --

QUESTION: There are so many – so many times so you cannot --

MR KIRBY: We're monitoring it very, very closely. Launching – launches using ballistic missile technology are a clear violation, as you know, of multiple UN Security Council resolutions. We again call on North Korea to refrain from actions that further raise tensions in the region and focus instead on taking concrete steps toward fulfilling their international commitments.

QUESTION: There's – about Iraq. There's an article in Reuters that Secretary Kerry handed a note from President Obama in January to Abadi about the dam in Mosul that could collapse. That happened at a time when the State Department also put out a statement saying that the dam could collapse as early as spring, which is basically – we're now in spring. Do – is that assessment continues to be the same, your assessment? Or has the Iraqi Government taken any measures to prevent the dam from collapsing, according to your information?

MR KIRBY: We have certainly shared information and our concerns in the past about the Mosul dam and its integrity with the Iraqi Government, and I would add that the Iraqi Government was having their own concerns at the same time. And we're in complete agreement that more needed to be done to ensure the dam's integrity, and they have taken steps to do that.

QUESTION: They have?

MR KIRBY: They have. They've hired a contractor to go and to work on these structural issues. I don't have an update for you on that. I think I would refer you to the Government of Iraq for the progress there. But it's beyond dispute that Prime Minister Abadi is showing leadership on trying to make sure that the dam's integrity is preserved, because he understands very well what the consequences of --

QUESTION: Do you really believe he's taking the issue seriously?

MR KIRBY: Yes, we do. Absolutely we do.

Yes.

QUESTION: On Turkey. Yesterday Turkish-Iranian national was arrested in Florida – over the weekend, I'm sorry. His name is Reza Zarrab. Indictment was published late last night as well. I was wondering if you have any further comments or whether you have talked to Turkish officials about this person.

MR KIRBY: I'm afraid I don't. I don't have any information on that particular report.

Yes, in the back there.

QUESTION: U.S. and China are deepening nuclear security cooperation right now. So what opportunity will bring to U.S.-China relations from the upcoming Nuclear Security Summit? And what's your expectation on the possible interaction – I mean, the bilateral meetings between President Xi and President Obama?

MR KIRBY: Well, I won't speak for the President and the meetings that he will have. That's really for my colleagues at the White House to speak to. As I said, we're looking forward to the Nuclear Security Summit. And there's an awful lot to discuss inside the framework of that forum. So the Secretary's very much looking forward to that and looking forward to having discussions with our Chinese counterparts, again, inside the framework of the Nuclear Security Summit. I won't get ahead of those discussions. I think you can rely upon the fact that as the Secretary conducts bilateral discussions on the margins of the Nuclear Security Summit, we'll be reading those discussions out to you. But there are many issues inside the broader concern of nuclear security for us to speak with our Chinese counterparts about, as well as other bilateral issues and regional issues that I'm sure will come up in those discussions.

So we're very much looking forward to it, and I think you'll see that we'll have more to say as we get into the actual meetings.

Yeah.

QUESTION: Yesterday Republican frontrunner Donald Trump in an interview to CNN said that the U.S. needs to review its role with NATO alliance – not in terms of contributions, but in terms of money that it pays and the troops it contributes because other countries are not matching the same figures. What's the State Department views on that?

MR KIRBY: I'm not going to get into debating the rhetoric by candidates for office.

QUESTION: But how important NATO is for the U.S.?

MR KIRBY: How important is NATO? Well, it's a critical alliance for the United States. We – it's one of seven security treaties that we belong to. And when you look at what's going on in Europe, when you look at what's – you look at how NATO has contributed and continues to contribute to the mission in Afghanistan, there's – there are a lot of – and just, frankly, what happened today in Brussels, in terms of the very real terrorist threat on the continent, there are lots of relevant – continue to be lots of relevant issues for NATO to consider and to contribute to and, frankly, to lead in. And the United States is very committed to our commitments under the NATO alliance, and I don't see that changing.

QUESTION: But do you think that NATO allies are contributing as much as you want them – you – them to do it? For instance, in Afghanistan, I mean, they are a reluctant partner; they are not contributing as much as you wanted them to do it.

MR KIRBY: Well, you asked and then you stated it, so --

QUESTION: I'm just giving an example.

MR KIRBY: We – we're confident in the integrity of the NATO alliance. We're certainly confident in our commitment – all of our commitments – to the NATO alliance. Now, your question gets to defense spending, and the Secretary has been very honest about the fact that we know that not all nations are contributing the 2 percent of GDP that was required coming out of Wales to NATO commitments and other nations are. So we continue to support that requirement. We want to see nations also support that requirement.

But we also value the individual skills and capabilities that so many armed forces belonging to NATO bring to the mission. You talked about Afghanistan, and there are small countries that may not be contributing the same number of troops, but they're contributing expertise in terms of police training and other force protection skills that are unique, that they're very good at, and we value that.

Okay. I'm going to have to call it there, guys. Thanks very much. Again, as we get more information and we're able to, we will certainly share it. Thank you.

(The briefing was concluded at 2:37 p.m.)