Daily Press Briefing
Mark C. Toner
Deputy Spokesperson
Daily Press Briefing
Washington, DC
November 9, 2016
Index for Today's Briefing
DEPARTMENT
MIDDLE EAST PEACE
IRAN
DEPARTMENT
CUBA
DEPARTMENT
IRAN
DEPARTMENT
JAPAN
NORTH KOREA
DEPARTMENT
RUSSIA/UKRAINE
INDIA
RUSSIA/UKRAINE
TRANSCRIPT:
2:02 p.m. EST
MR TONER: Hey everybody. Welcome to the State Department. A couple things at the top. First, on a scheduling note. We'll have seven winners receive the Associates of the American Foreign Service Worldwide Secretary of State Award for Outstanding Volunteerism Abroad at a ceremony tomorrow, Thursday, November 10th, at 10 a.m. in the Benjamin Franklin Room at the Department of State. Deputy Secretary Heather Higginbottom will highlight the winners' extraordinary and exemplary service and present the awards at this ceremony. Now, the SOSA awards recognize U.S. Government employees, family members, including domestic partners and other members of household at embassies and consulates who performed exceptional volunteer service to their communities, mission, or host country, or rendered outstanding assistance in emergencies. So that's tomorrow.
Also just wanted to say a few words at the top about the outcome of yesterday's and last night's presidential election. President Obama and Secretary Kerry are obviously very committed to preparing for a well-coordinated and effective transition to the incoming administration. Ensuring a professional and orderly transfer of power – transfer at the State Department, rather, is a top priority for Secretary Kerry. And several months ago he designated three experienced senior career officials to oversee that transition – Counselor Kristie Kenney and Under Secretary Patrick Kennedy, and they're working closely with Executive Secretary Joseph MacManus.
When the president-elect's transition team does arrive at the State Department, the full expertise and support of the State Department will be at their disposal. As we've done with every transition, we'll provide administrative support staff to assist the team as they request information or briefings from the department.
Just a last word. President Obama put it very eloquently a few hours ago when he said that a peaceful transition of power is one of the hallmarks of our democracy. And I think the world saw that and hopefully was reassured by it in full display last night in President-elect Trump's remarks, this morning in Secretary Clinton's very gracious concession speech, and also in President Obama's remarks, as I said, a short time ago. Our focus at the State Department is to work, I think, to ensure two things: one, that we continue to work to make progress on our foreign policy priorities in the time remaining for this administration; and then secondly, that we work as closely and effectively with the incoming administration to ensure a smooth transition with respect to this nation's national security and its foreign policy priorities.
Matt.
QUESTION: Right. Let's stick with transition for --
MR TONER: Of course, yeah.
QUESTION: -- a minute. Other than the letter that the Secretary sent to the employees, has there actually been any work on transition? Has the campaign been in touch yet, that you're aware of?
MR TONER: Right, so – and I don't think this has changed so far today, but my understanding as of this morning was that there was not – there has not been any contact from the President-elect's transition team with respect to the State Department. Of course, there is a space, as you probably noticed, already set aside for them, as it has been for past incoming administrations. But certainly we're ready with respect to when they do arrive here, and that could come as soon as tomorrow, to greet them and to make them as comfortable and meet their needs as best we can.
QUESTION: Well, do you have reason to believe that it could be as early as tomorrow?
MR TONER: I think it will happen very soon. I don't have a date certain.
QUESTION: Okay. But there hasn't been --
MR TONER: No.
QUESTION: That you're aware of, they haven't been in touch yet?
MR TONER: Right.
QUESTION: And is it their responsibility to get in touch with you, or do you get into touch with them?
MR TONER: I think it's their responsibility. And I think that'll happen both at the White House – obviously, you saw Josh spoke about and the President spoke about --
QUESTION: Right.
MR TONER: -- a meeting with the President. But I think this will all fall into place very quickly in the next couple of days.
QUESTION: Okay.
MR TONER: Yep.
QUESTION: And a couple of things policy-related to the transition. The President-elect has, during the campaign, spoke about his ideas for foreign policy, many of which are dramatically opposed to or not in line with this current administration's. So in the – over the course of the – until January, the end of January, do you expect that the Administration will maintain its strong stance in favor of the Iran deal, for example, in favor of TPP, in favor of climate – the Paris climate agreement? Or will these things become less of a priority since they are not a priority for or in fact they are – well, they're a priority to replace under the next administration?
MR TONER: Yeah. Well, they are a priority. The very – of course, the Iran agreement's already been implemented and being implemented. Of course, we're not in any way, shape, or form going to relent from that effort. And there are other priorities, as you mentioned, with respect to TPP – the Trans-Pacific Partnership – other agreements out there and also pursuing a political resolution to the conflict in Syria. I mean, there's any number of priorities, as you noted, that we're going to remain focused on making as much progress on as we can in the remaining two months. That includes --
QUESTION: But even though every indication is the next administration is going to either not have them as priorities or try to dismantle them?
MR TONER: I think, Matt – and I'm being very careful here because I don't want to ever attempt to speak on behalf or for the incoming administration – what I would say is that's part of the transition. We're going to work with them. We're going to brief them up as much as we possibly can on all of the issues of interest to them, but that's really for them to speak to, what their foreign policy priorities are going to be.
QUESTION: Right.
MR TONER: Let me finish. So, I mean, we have two months more or less remaining to this administration. We're not going to take our foot off the pedal.
QUESTION: Right. But I mean – well, so does that mean you're going to try to convince the people on the transition team that your way is – that they should carry on with policies that they don't think are --
MR TONER: Again, I think it's – we're going to make every effort to make sure that they understand the current administration's perspective on all of these issues and the importance of what we've accomplished and the progress we've made on these issues, including climate change, including Syria, including Iran, et cetera. Ultimately, it's for the incoming administration to choose its foreign policy goals and priorities to pass.
QUESTION: All right. And then just very quickly is specifically one of the things that the President-elect has said when he was a candidate. He said that he would recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and move the embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. This is something that previous administrations have not done – have resisted, in fact – since --
MR TONER: That's correct.
QUESTION: And I'm just wondering, can you remind us very briefly why exactly that is? And if you want to do it as a TQ, that's fine.
MR TONER: Well, sure. And I would prefer to actually get the policy out there as word-for-word as I possibly can. But there is a longstanding, as you note, policy from both sides of the aisle – so to speak – with regard to Jerusalem's status.
QUESTION: All right. And then just a last one on Iran.
QUESTION: Mark --
MR TONER: Yeah.
QUESTION: And this also has to do with the transition. So you will have seen that the IAEA report came out today finding Iran to be in violation of the heavy water stockpile provision of it. This is the second time that's happened. Why are you – or do you still say – is it still your position that Iran is adhering to its commitments?
MR TONER: So I have to caveat my response by saying we normally don't discuss the details of these reports before they're made public by the Board of Governors. But as you note, the report's already been in the media, and as you note, there were in the coverage some concerns reported on – sorry – in the reports on the report, there are concerns about – that Iran has exceeded its heavy water limit. And indeed, the IAEA has observed that Iran has slightly exceeded its 130 metric ton heavy water stockpile limit under the JCPOA by 100 kilograms. So that's about one-tenth of a metric ton.
A couple of points to make on that. It's important to note that Iran made no effort to hide this – hide what it was doing from the IAEA. During the course of its ongoing heavy water production, Iran produced a little more heavy water than permitted but is now taking steps to address the issue by shipping a – the excess quantity out of the country, we expect in the coming days. So the IAEA flagged us. Iran made no attempt to hide it, and they're taking immediate steps to address it.
QUESTION: And that's supposed to make – that's supposed to be a relief, that they made no effort to hide it?
MR TONER: No, I just wanted to – I said --
QUESTION: So it's okay if they blatantly violate it and don't try and to – don't try to cover it up? I don't get it.
MR TONER: Well, Matt --
QUESTION: It's a violation, is it not?
MR TONER: Well, look, it is – so they exceeded the limits. They acknowledged it.
QUESTION: Right. That's a violation, is it not?
MR TONER: Well, again, it's – but they're addressing it. I mean, this is something that --
QUESTION: But did they – so you don't think – they violated the deal and you can't – and you won't say that they violated the deal? I don't --
MR TONER: So they – again, yes, they exceeded the allowable amount of heavy water that they were permitted.
QUESTION: Is that or is that not a violation of the agreement? Whether or not they're taking steps to address it, they still violated it, didn't they?
MR TONER: I'm not sure whether that constitutes a formal violation. I'd have to look into that, to be honest with you. I mean, they certainly exceeded, again, what their – their allowable amount of heavy water. Whether that constitutes, again, a formal violation of JCPOA writ large, I'm not certain about that. Again, what's important here is that this was detected, it was acknowledged, and they're taking steps to address it.
QUESTION: Okay.
QUESTION: Mark, can I follow up on the transition, please?
MR TONER: Yeah, please.
QUESTION: So I know you've had three people – there's a transition team already in place – you have State Department people --
MR TONER: Yeah.
QUESTION: -- and the Trump campaign has not reached out.
MR TONER: And that's not – but anyway, I'm not --
QUESTION: No.
MR TONER: It's just – yeah. It's just – because the elections were last night.
QUESTION: It's a few hours old.
MR TONER: They're probably a little tired.
QUESTION: So – but the question is: Would you expect someone to, from the campaign, from Trump's side, to join those three in the transition? I mean, how soon do you think that could be?
MR TONER: Sure. So in anticipation of a lot of these kind of process-oriented questions, we're going to try to get somebody to – who can – who's intimate with the process to come and try to brief you guys a little bit more thoroughly on this tomorrow if we can arrange it.
But normally how these work is that a transition team from the president-elect's administration will come in and set up shop here at the State Department. They'll be briefed on the full range of issues – all the regional issues, all the functional issues as they, again, work towards the ultimate transition on January 20th. And that's a real important part of the democratic process and this period and it's why I don't want to try to speak to – again, trying to separate what were the campaign issues from the transition period now, because this is governance now and moving towards a change in governance. So I don't want to speak on their behalf.
All we can do as the present Administration is to work to make sure that as they develop their policies that they're going to implement, that they're as well informed as they can possibly be by our team here.
QUESTION: You've probably seen today, there's a lot of expressions from around the world of concern, mainly about the uncertainty and the difference in policies from the Clinton and then the Trump campaigns. What is the State Department doing or what can it do now to reassure allies and – that none of that – none of what is – what you've got going right now could be disrupted in the next – certainly until the handover?
MR TONER: Well – and Josh Earnest over at the White House spoke a little bit to this in his briefing just a short time ago. A couple of points to make. I mean, it was a very contentious election. I think everyone acknowledges that. And it's normal that that would have an effect on world leaders, certainly even on the financial markets we've seen. The world watches our presidential elections very closely.
But we've already seen, as I said, a transition process begin. And again, it's part of the democratic process. It speaks to the integrity and the stability of our democratic process that even as election results were still coming in and being finalized, President-Elect Trump spoke in a very conciliatory manner about his opponent, and she came out this morning, Secretary Clinton, and conceded. And then you saw the President speak as well.
I think the world, as I said, would take note that that is reassuring. I think for our part, and certainly Secretary Kerry going forward, we've accomplished a lot in four years. We've made great strides in certainly environmental issues, but on a number issues including Iran, including a range of other issues, trade as well. We're going to continue to work towards making as much progress as we can in the remaining time with the understanding that, as we've seen with past administrations, there is this tendency to at least look at and consider thoughtfully the previous administration's policies before embarking on a new course.
QUESTION: Is it – my last question is --
MR TONER: I think that's all we can attempt to do, frankly.
QUESTION: My last question is --
MR TONER: Yeah.
QUESTION: -- I mean, do you expect an exodus from this building over the next few weeks? I mean, there's a lot of people that feel that Trump's – that what he said he was going to do going forward doesn't gel with how they believe. So is there any evidence of it yet? Have you got notices or do you expect --
MR TONER: Sure. Well, it's a valid question. I wouldn't attempt to speak for my colleagues in the State Department. I'm a career diplomat. I'm a public servant. And with that, frankly, comes an awareness that you're there to serve the U.S. Government regardless of whether they – that's a Republican or a Democratic administration. Obviously, there are political appointees in the State Department, but I can tell you that what I've seen firsthand this morning is very serious professionalism and commitment, as I said, to making sure that this incoming administration, whether these people agree with their policies or not, are given every opportunity for a smooth transition and are as informed as possible before that transition takes place.
Go ahead, Justin.
QUESTION: Just to follow on that --
MR TONER: Yeah.
QUESTION: -- as has been mentioned here today, the president-elect differs so greatly on so many issues: Iran, trade, climate, Cuba, Syria, NATO alliances, nuclear proliferation – just basic tenets of the things that – and assumptions that this Administration has been working under. What about – if you haven't seen people saying, "I'm leaving today," career diplomats, which is what I gather you're saying, are you and is the Secretary worried about morale in these last days? He – the first thing in his statement basically tells people, his staff, to continue focus moving ahead. So given the disparity between the president-elect and this Administration, what do you see the morale here being in the coming days and weeks?
MR TONER: Look, I think – again, it's a fair question. I think when you choose a path of public service, you do so with the recognition that – and again, I'm not speaking to the incoming administration or the present Administration – you have to compartmentalize your own political beliefs from your professional duties. That is something that is incumbent on any public servant, whether it's at the State Department or any other federal agency, or the military for that matter. That's what, frankly, provides continuity and institutional knowledge for our government. So I wouldn't predict any mass exodus, far from it.
I think that under Secretary Kerry and under President Obama and under Secretary Clinton as well, this State Department has achieved great things. I think they're focused on continuing to work on the priorities. Some of the urgent ones, like getting a ceasefire or a cessation of hostilities in Syria that is attainable in two months, or next week, if we can get there through our multilateral efforts. I don't think any – there's any kind of attitude that – of resignation or of – or any other attitude other than that, focused on the priorities of this Administration and ensuring that the new administration, incoming administration, has a smooth transition.
Please, Steve.
QUESTION: I --
QUESTION: Just one – sorry, just one follow-up.
MR TONER: Yeah, please go ahead. Yeah, I'm sorry.
QUESTION: On one of these areas in particular --
MR TONER: Yeah.
QUESTION: -- in Cuba, just quickly: They announced today that they – they're going to do five days of military training. Do you see that as a reaction to the election? Is this something that concerns you? What's your reaction, your response?
MR TONER: Yeah. I mean, it's a – so it's my understanding – I'm not going to speculate on what prompted it. My understanding is that they're routine military exercises. But as to the timing, I have no idea why now. I'd refer you to the Government of Cuba for that question.
Please.
QUESTION: Can you tell us where the Secretary of State was precisely when he got the news about the election results --
MR TONER: Sure.
QUESTION: -- and by what method? Was he watching television, got a phone call, or --
MR TONER: Right. He's --
QUESTION: -- because he was on his way to --
MR TONER: So he's on his way to Antarctica, so that's a fair question – how he got it, carrier pigeon or – that's right – snowmobile. No, he's actually – he was not yet there. In fact, some of you may be aware that the actual trip into Antarctica has been – has been delayed somewhat by weather. They hope to leave later today. But he was actually – he had arrived late in the day, or in our night, in New Zealand, but well before the final results were actually called. So he was able to watch the results in his hotel.
QUESTION: Thank you.
MR TONER: Please. Yeah, (inaudible).
QUESTION: So we kind of touched on this, but I want to see if we can go into it a little more in depth. The issue of the Iran deal – Trump said – has said that he wants to tear it up. Is that even possible?
MR TONER: Well, anything's possible. I mean, and look, this Secretary obviously and this Administration feels very strongly that the Iran deal has worked. It has prevented Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon within a short period of time, and it's put in place a regime of verification by the IAEA that will prevent it from achieving a nuclear weapon in any kind of short-term breakout time. That's a real success, and we worked hard to get there, as you all know in this room, and to then convince Congress that this was in America's national security interest and the region's national security interests. So obviously, as part of the transition, we're going to work and the Secretary is going to work very closely to make that case to the incoming secretary of state.
QUESTION: So what's the – what would the – well, first of all, what would the impact be if they actually – if he actually went through with his, I guess, threats, I guess, to --
MR TONER: I just – again, the day after the election, without having even a secretary of state nominated for the new administration, but certainly while this Administration's still in place, I just wouldn't speak to hypotheticals about what decisions President-elect Trump or his administration may take.
QUESTION: But what would the – I mean, if the Obama Administration hadn't been able to obtain this agreement, what would the results be? What would have happened?
MR TONER: Well, again, this was – I mean, that was part of reaching implementation day, but certainly all of the parties who signed to the – signed up to this agreement had obligations to meet, one of which was having parliamentary or congressional approval. So that was – that required a pretty significant lobbying effort. But again, I think looking back in the past year or so since implementation day, we have seen that this agreement has done what we said it was going to do, which is limit Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. It always was focused on that. It wasn't focused on changing Iran's behavior writ large. It was focused on preventing it from obtaining a nuclear weapon.
QUESTION: What – but wasn't one of the other obligations of this that Iran would curb or limit its heavy water production? And did they not, in fact, not do that?
MR TONER: Well, again – and I would let experts --
QUESTION: I just don't understand why this is --
MR TONER: No, no, no, I'm not trying to – I just – I don't – I don't want to say that this was some kind of formal violation of the JCPOA or something that – and that's my own limitations of understanding of the agreement – whether they've got a period of time where they can address these – this overproduction of heavy water. It's not significant. It was caught. Again, you said "blatant," but they didn't try to hide it or obfuscate or in any way – they – this was something that occurred and they're addressing it. So I don't want to make too much out of this, is my point.
QUESTION: Right, but isn't not trying to hide a violation worse than --
MR TONER: No. I mean, I wouldn't say that at all.
QUESTION: No?
MR TONER: In fact, I would say that it shows that there is now a channel of – or just a channel of communication between – and access between Iran and the IAEA that was part of the goals of the JCPOA.
QUESTION: Or it shows that they just – they don't care if they're caught.
MR TONER: That's not true, Matt. And again, I don't want to speak to a report that hasn't been published yet, but our understanding is that the Iranians – and again, I'm also not – I feel like I'm in this peculiar spot of justifying Iranians' – Iran's behavior.
QUESTION: Okay. Well, we'll wait until the thing is public and then go at this again.
MR TONER: All I'm trying to – the only point I'm trying to make, Matt, is that it's partly a success of this agreement that this was caught and is being addressed.
QUESTION: Okay, but can't you look – you surely have an open enough mind to see that --
MR TONER: I can see the glass as half empty or half full. Was that (inaudible).
QUESTION: -- from the other side that this is a sign that Iran isn't complying.
MR TONER: But again – and I don't have the particulars and I don't want to necessarily get into particulars – I have no idea if this was an accidental overage or whatever. I just don't know the --
QUESTION: All right. Well, when it comes out – when it's public --
MR TONER: Fair enough.
QUESTION: Sir, I want to get back to my line of questioning.
MR TONER: Yeah, sure. Of course.
QUESTION: Is there a – is there like a back-out clause in the Iran deal or some kind of a procedure for if the parties want to back out of it?
MR TONER: Well, I mean, look --
QUESTION: What is the procedure if they – if people want to – if one of the parties wants to --
MR TONER: I mean, we've talked about this a lot. I mean, there's always – I mean, the agreement is valid only as long as all parties uphold it. I mean, that's always – so, I mean, that's always something that we're mindful of, other members of the P5+1 are mindful of. But again, I don't want to speak to hypotheticals.
QUESTION: I mean, there are certain elements of the Iran detail that aren't revocable. I mean, there's been cash that's been --
MR TONER: Correct.
QUESTION: -- that's been passed over or released, right?
MR TONER: Well, there's – right.
QUESTION: Changed hands in one way or another.
MR TONER: Right, right, right, but no – in fairness, though, I don't want to – I – you're conflating several – I don't necessarily want to relitigate or discuss that again. But --
QUESTION: I'm not relitigating whether --
MR TONER: Yeah. No worries. I just want to make sure that --
QUESTION: -- why that money was exchanged, but --
MR TONER: That was a different – no, but seriously, it was a different resolution for a Hague – The Hague – or The Hague – I forget what it's called. Not The Hague Tribunal, but The Hague settlement process. Excuse me.
QUESTION: So those money – there were funds that were released. There was also some sanctions that were lifted --
MR TONER: As part of implementation day, because --
QUESTION: As part of the -- as part of the implementation day, yeah.
MR TONER: -- Iran met their commitments, right. But we've always left it – sorry.
QUESTION: But what are the things that can't – that have yet to happen, that still – I guess, what are the – I mean, those things can't be – you can't back out of the things that have been done. But are you saying that if this government in the future just decides not to do the next things on the list, that it could do that?
MR TONER: I'm just not going to speak to decisions that the new incoming administration has or hasn't made yet. I just – I'm not going to go there, sorry. Please.
QUESTION: Okay, I'm trying to understand that answer, that – is there any provision that all that money in cash can come back?
MR TONER: No, and I – the only reason that I was – anyway – dwelling on that is – and we, as I said, we discussed this in excruciating detail a few months ago. That money was part of The Hague settlement process for money that we owed Iran. And I think that there was a lot of back and forth and a lot of conflating it with somehow money that Iran had gotten from us as part of a deal. That's not at all the case. So I just want to make that clear. But that money has been paid, that was a settlement that was actually to the advantage of the American taxpayer, because of the interest level – the interest rate that we got on it.
QUESTION: Okay, the other one is on the State Department data going on the web. According to the NARA specifications – and this question has been raised earlier and – their deadline says that some of them are end of 2016 that all – everything has to be stored online like – and then --
MR TONER: Help me here. We're talking about emails in FOIA or --
QUESTION: Everything. The National Archives had given a deadline when Jason Baron was the director that made all – that every data of every federal government will be on – not for people to see, but --
MR TONER: Yeah, no, I – right, I --
QUESTION: -- in the cloud or whatever.
MR TONER: Yeah, I understand what you're talking about.
QUESTION: So there is a – one of the deadline is 2016.
MR TONER: Okay.
QUESTION: So is the State Department going to meet it? Is it going to --
MR TONER: Going to meet that deadline?
QUESTION: Yeah.
MR TONER: Let me get an update for you. I just don't have that in front of me.
QUESTION: Okay.
MR TONER: I'll get an update for you. Please.
QUESTION: So the President-elect spoke a lot about Japan throughout the campaign. What would you say is the impact of his election on the future of the U.S.-Japan relationship?
MR TONER: Well, look, I mean, the U.S.-Japan relationship is a cornerstone relationship. Part of our strong presence in Asia – the Asia Pacific and that relationship is going to remain, regardless of the administration, a cornerstone for the United States in its relations with Asia. And I can only imagine that it's going to grow stronger in the coming weeks, months, and years. They're a strong ally and partner and, certainly, within this administration we've been able to deepen and strengthen that partnership. So I guess my message would be one of reassurance to the Japanese people that that relationship is of a core foreign policy interest to the United States. Please, in back.
QUESTION: Yeah, I just wanted --
MR TONER: No, go ahead – if you – we can shift, I'll get to you in a second.
QUESTION: I just want to follow. Thank you. On difference of North Korean policy, and how will the difference between current Obama's administrations and next coming Trump administration toward North Korean policy?
MR TONER: Well, again, that's a question that you're going to have the opportunity to ask the incoming administration. You know where we stand with regard to North Korea and its, frankly, pattern of behavior that's caused so much insecurity in the peninsula and in the region. We're going to continue to apply pressure on the regime and Pyongyang to try to get them to change that behavior and answer the international community's concerns about their nuclear ambitions. That's going to continue full-stop in the remaining two months.
QUESTION: Thank you.
MR TONER: Sure. Go ahead.
QUESTION: Yeah, I have another separate question.
MR TONER: Yeah, sure.
QUESTION: You mentioned the Administration's or the department's priorities for the next two months.
MR TONER: Right.
QUESTION: Can you tell us what those are?
MR TONER: I can. Well, I mean, obviously – I promise I won't go on, but the coalition – the anti-Daesh coalition, has made, frankly, significant, important progress in the past year. We're in the process of liberating Mosul. We're in the process of an initial stage to isolate and eventually liberate Raqqa. It's not to say that Daesh is defeated, but in the last year and a half we have really set up a structure, working effectively with partners on the ground and with Iraqi forces on the ground, that has put Daesh – Daesh, rather – on the defensive. That's going to continue. That's been a successful effort. It's not to say they're defeated, not to say they can't still strike out and cause violence, but that's a significant effort.
Climate change – we're getting ready. The Secretary is going to be in Marrakesh next week. This year we had the entry into force of the Paris Agreement. We had the agreement on capturing emissions from international civil aviation, and also the agreement from Kigali to phase down on hydrofluorocarbons. So that's been a trifecta that's been a real success with regard to combating climate change. Those efforts are going to continue in the months ahead.
And then just the urgency of what's happening in Syria and trying to get a cessation of hostilities into place – we continue to meet with – in a multilateral venue, or setting, rather, in Geneva. We're still trying to overcome some of the gaps, but we're still working hard to get some kind of credible cessation of hostilities in place, certainly in Aleppo but throughout Syria, and try to get a political transition back in place. That's – there's an urgency there that's obviously not something even for the next couple of months, but something in the days and weeks ahead that we need to address.
I'll stop there.
QUESTION: (Inaudible.)
MR TONER: Please, go ahead.
QUESTION: Sorry, one last one before we run off.
MR TONER: Yeah, of course.
QUESTION: Apparently, Russian – an aide to Russian President Putin says he believes that a Trump administration would lift sanctions against Russia. I know you can't comment on what that administration would do, but perhaps you could tell us what your stance is now on sanctions (inaudible).
MR TONER: Our stance is what it's been and will remain in – certainly throughout this Administration, which is with regard to sanctions on Crimea, those remain in place until Russia removes its forces from Crimea and gives that peninsula back to Ukraine. With regard to other sanctions with respect to Ukraine and its actions in eastern Ukraine, those sanctions remain in place until the Minsk agreement is fully implemented. And we continue to make progress and work in that regard, but that's the clearest path to remove sanctions for Russia.
QUESTION: What's the consequences of – if those sanctions weren't there, what would the consequences be?
MR TONER: Well, again, it's the question of what sanctions do and how you use them in a diplomatic setting. They're a way to apply leverage, to apply pressure on Russia. They've had a significant impact on Russia's economy. I don't have the statistics in front of me, but we can certainly get them for you. But it's had an effect of applying pressure, and that's what its intent is. It's not a means to an – an end all to itself, but it's a way to make clear to Russia that its actions have consequences.
QUESTION: I just got one on this Administration, nothing to do with transition.
MR TONER: Okay, yeah.
QUESTION: That – you know what happened in India yesterday. Narendra Modi, prime minister, he dumped rupees 500 and rupees 1,000 --
MR TONER: Yes.
QUESTION: -- currency notes. And today the banks are closed, ATMs are not working. There are a lot of Americans who are traveling --
MR TONER: Yeah.
QUESTION: -- who are there. What are the – anything our embassy is doing there or this department has issued anything? So if you have any --
MR TONER: It's a fair question whether we've issued anything via our consular system to the – to Americans who are traveling there or whether we're updating our travel documents or travel information about India. I assume that's in train, if it hasn't been done already. But to speak to the – speak to the broader actions that were taken, it was, frankly, the anti-corruption measure that was taken by the Modi government, following a series of steps that that government has taken in the past years in an attempt to reduce counterfeit money or black money.
QUESTION: All that --
MR TONER: Yeah.
QUESTION: -- that is fine. I did not find anything --
MR TONER: You're just asking about the impact on tourists? Yeah.
QUESTION: I did not find anything on the embassy --
MR TONER: It's a completely legitimate question. I think we're --
QUESTION: -- embassy website --
MR TONER: Yeah.
QUESTION: -- for the people who are right there there, because the 500 and 1,000 --
MR TONER: I know.
QUESTION: -- I was there a couple – a few months ago, and these are the notes that you really carry. It's cash.
MR TONER: Yeah. No, I'm aware that this has had --
QUESTION: People are --
MR TONER: I'm aware that it's had an impact. I assume --
QUESTION: Yeah.
MR TONER: -- that we have informed at least Americans who are visiting or living in India of how to work around this and to deal with it.
QUESTION: Can we go back to the Ukraine question real quick?
MR TONER: Of course.
QUESTION: So you – does this Administration feel that the sanctions tempered Russia's behavior towards Ukraine or in that part of Europe? And would – if they weren't there, would Russia have been more – I guess more aggressive in its behavior?
MR TONER: Sure. I mean, look, it's – I don't think it's possible to say categorically that it stopped Russia's bad behavior in eastern Ukraine, because we saw, even after sanctions were implemented, a continuation of that behavior with respect to Russian forces and weaponry moving around or being positioned in, frankly, Ukraine's sovereign territory. But I do believe that it was a useful, as I said, application of pressure to get Russia to want to resolve the unrest in eastern Ukraine, and how we're working to do that is through the Minsk agreement. We're still not there with full implementation, but that's the way to resolve the current unrest.
Thanks.
QUESTION: Thank you.
MR TONER: Yep.
QUESTION: Thank you.
(The briefing was concluded at 2:42 p.m.)
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