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SECRETARY BLINKEN:  Full house. Good to see.

This week, President Putin’s war against Ukraine entered its sixth month. The costs continue to rise – thousands of civilians killed or wounded; 13 million Ukrainians forced to leave their homes; historic cities literally crammed into ruins; food shortages, skyrocketing food prices around the world – all because President Putin was determined to conquer yet another country.

He failed in this goal. Ukraine is not and will not be conquered. It will remain sovereign and independent. As this war drags on, the courage and strength of the Ukrainian military and its people become even more apparent and even more remarkable. They will do whatever it takes to protect their homes, their families, their fellow citizens, their country. The United States and our allies and partners will continue to stand with them and help provide them with exactly what they need to defend their freedom.

In the coming days, I expect to speak with Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov for the first time since the beginning of the war. I plan to raise an issue that is a top priority for us: the release of Americans Paul Whelan and Brittney Griner, who have been unjustly detained and must be allowed to return home. We put a significant proposal on the table a few weeks ago to facilitate their release. Our governments have repeatedly and directly communicated about this proposal. And I will use the conversation to personally follow up and hopefully move us toward a solution.

I will also raise the issue of the framework agreement on grain exports that Ukraine, Russia, Turkey and the United Nations reached last week. We hope that this agreement will quickly lead to the re-transportation of Ukrainian grain through the Black Sea and that Russia will fulfill its promise to allow the passage of these ships.

This has been the focus of the world’s attention for months, including a few weeks ago at the G20 foreign ministers’ meeting in Bali, where one foreign minister after another called on Foreign Minister Lavrov and Russia to end the grain blockade. Therefore, this agreement represents a positive step forward.

However, there is a difference between an agreement on paper and an agreement in practice. Hundreds of millions of people around the world are waiting for these ships to leave Ukrainian ports and for millions of tons of grain and other crops to reach world markets. If the Kremlin signed this agreement to make it look reasonable to the world, with no intention of following it, we will soon know.

My call to Foreign Minister Lavrov will not be negotiations on Ukraine. All negotiations regarding Ukraine are decided by its government and people. As we said from the beginning, nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine.

Aside from these developments, now that we’ve reached the half-year mark, let’s take a step back and consider the state of the war and what we expect to happen next.

In the Donbass region, where Russia has concentrated its forces after failing to capture Kyiv this spring, fighting remains intense. The modest progress the Russian troops made there cost enormous lives and material. Meanwhile, Ukraine is using all of its defense capabilities to fight back strongly, aided by more than $8 billion in United States security assistance since the start of this administration.

As we look ahead, what the world has heard recently from Russian leaders is raising new alarms.

Last week, Foreign Minister Lavrov said that the Kremlin’s goals in Ukraine had expanded. Now they are looking for more Ukrainian territory, outside Donbass.

This is the latest in a series of ever-changing justifications and ever-changing goals.

Initially, Russia said the purpose of the war was to “denazify” Ukraine – a false charge aimed at delegitimizing Ukrainian democracy.

They said that the real threat is somehow represented by NATO, a purely defensive alliance that for years tried to include Russia, but was rejected, and that for decades helped preserve peace, stability and prosperity throughout Europe, to the benefit of Russia, among many other nations.

They then said the war was to protect the ethnic Russians living in the Donbass from genocide, before mercilessly attacking Ukraine’s largest Russian-speaking city, Kharkiv. The only person responsible for killing ethnic Russians in Ukraine is President Putin.

This is, and has always been, about President Putin’s belief that Ukraine is not an independent country and belongs to Russia. He said this directly to President Bush in 2008, and I quote:  “Ukraine is not a real country,” end quote. He said this in 2020, I quote: “Ukrainians and Russians are one and the same people”, end of quote. Last month he said that when Peter the Great was waging war against Sweden, he was simply taking back what belonged to Russia, and now Russia wants to take back what is theirs again.

President Putin has been thwarted in his efforts to erase Ukraine’s sovereignty and independence. But now Moscow is laying the foundations for the annexation of more Ukrainian territory. From the downgrade of the US intelligence services, as well as information available in the public domain, we can see that they are following the same procedure they used in 2014.

They install illegitimate proxies. They are working to set up branches of Russian banks in areas they control, set up the ruble as the local currency, take over broadcasting towers, force residents to apply for Russian citizenship, sabotage internet access for local residents.

All this in order to consolidate their power over these regions.

Our intelligence also shows that Russia is using filtering centers in eastern Ukraine and western Russia to detain, interrogate and in some cases abuse thousands of Ukrainians. Some were allowed to stay in Russian-occupied Ukraine. Some were forcibly deported to Russia. Some were sent to prisons. Some simply disappear.

Here’s what we expect:  Leaders installed in Russia will hold fake referendums to create the fiction that people in those places want to join Russia. They will then use these fake votes to claim that the annexation of these regions is legitimate. We must and will act quickly to make it clear to Russia that this tactic will not work.

The violent annexation of the territory of a sovereign and independent country is a gross violation of the Charter of the United Nations. Members of the international community committed to upholding the charter and international law have a responsibility to condemn these plans by the Russian government and make it clear that they will never condone these illegal actions. Otherwise, no one can say they are surprised when Russia goes ahead with its plans – or if other countries follow suit in the future.

A few days ago, Foreign Minister Lavrov said, and I quote, “We are determined to help the people of eastern Ukraine free themselves from the burden of this absolutely unacceptable regime,” end quote.

With what right can Russia claim that? Ukraine is not their country. The people of Ukraine democratically elect their leaders. The Russian government has no influence in this. The right belongs to the Ukrainian people and only the Ukrainian people.

Despite these deeply troubling developments, we should not lose sight of the bigger picture. NATO is stronger, more united and ready to grow. Almost one third of NATO members have already ratified the accession protocols of Sweden and Finland. We appreciate the swift action of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to advance these protocols; we hope the full Senate will act quickly to do the same.

Many countries outside Europe have condemned Russia’s aggression and are calling Moscow to account. The Ukrainian people are more determined than ever to defend their homeland, to preserve their culture. All these developments refute the Kremlin.

Economically, the sanctions we have imposed on Russia to stop aggression are having a strong and also growing effect.

Now Moscow has cherry-picked economic data to back up President Putin’s insistence that all is well and the Russian economy is strengthening. That’s simply not true.

The Kremlin says that global companies have not actually pulled out of Russia. In fact, more than 1,000 foreign companies – representing assets and revenue equal to more than a third of Russia’s GDP – have ceased operations in Russia. Many of the best and brightest Russians have also left, including highly educated experts in critical fields such as energy and technology.

They say that Russia is replacing lost imports from the West with imports from Asia. In fact, imports to Russia are down more than 50 percent this year, and imports from China, for example, are not making up for the difference in quantity or quality, especially for high-end components. It also means that Russia cannot produce products for Russian citizens or for export and will increasingly lose overseas markets.

They say that the state has a surplus in the budget due to high energy prices. In fact, the budget is in deficit, and Russia cannot spend the oil revenues it has earned on the imports it wants because of sanctions.

They say that the Kremlin has an abundance of state wealth. In fact, half of that money – half of that money – is frozen overseas.

They say that domestic consumption in Russia is still strong. In fact, consumer spending has fallen sharply.

They say that the ruble is the world’s strongest currency. In fact, the currency market is controlled by the Kremlin, Russian households are prohibited from converting rubles into dollars, and rubles are traded in much lower volume than before the war.

So, although the Kremlin is working hard to create an image of economic stability, the facts show otherwise. The powerful effect of sanctions will grow and increase over time.

Although President Putin will likely claim that this war was a resounding success, the world can see that it has deeply weakened Russia.

President Zelenskyy has made it clear that the war will end with diplomacy. We agree. The United States stands ready to support any viable diplomatic effort. Unfortunately, Moscow has given no indication that it is ready to engage meaningfully and constructively, and we have no illusions that this will change anytime soon. If and when the time comes, we will bring the full weight of American diplomacy to bear.

In the meantime, we will continue to do everything we can to strengthen Ukraine’s position on the battlefield so that it has the strongest possible position at the negotiating table.

From here in Washington and throughout my travels, I will continue to discuss all of this with our partners and allies – supporting a sovereign, independent Ukraine; addressing the food security crisis; and how we can help create the conditions for a diplomatic solution.

Last week, as you know, I had the privilege of hosting the First Lady of Ukraine, Olena Zelenska. She came to the State Department. I told her that the United States will not abandon our support for the Ukrainian people. That was true six months ago; it is true today; it will be true long after this war, this aggression is over.

That said, I’ll be happy to answer some questions.

QUESTION: Mr. Minister, there are reports that the administration has decided that this significant offer is to trade convicted Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout. That’s a big offer. Just last week, Bill Burns called him a jerk in an interview with me. But you want to get Griner and Paul Whelan out, so what are the odds of getting Paul Whelan and Brittney Griner out by making such a big deal, probably over the Justice Department’s opposition – he’s serving a 20 – or 5-year sentence . And what can you achieve by talking to Lavrov to try to close this grain deal, since they bombed Odessa within 24 hours of agreeing to the deal? How can you trust anything that Lavrov and the Russians agree on?

SECRETARY BLINKEN:  Thank you, Andrea. When it comes to our efforts to secure the homecoming of Paul Whelan and Brittney Griner, you will understand that I cannot and will not go into any detail of what we have been proposing to the Russians for so many weeks now.

QUESTION: Can you talk about why you would make such a significant — why you would put what you call a significant offer on the table?

SECRETARY BLINKEN: Here’s what I can say about this. First, as I mentioned, we communicated this repeatedly and directly to Russian officials. And I hope that in the conversation with Foreign Minister Lavrov, I will be able to advance efforts to bring them home. We have two imperatives when it comes to arbitrarily, unjustly detained Americans anywhere in the world, including Russia, including the cases of Brittney Griner and Paul Whelan. I say that because, more than unfortunately – horribly – it’s a practice, as you know, that many countries are engaging in and that we’re working determinedly to end, and I’ll come back to that in a moment.

But we have two goals. Of course, we want those who have been unjustly detained to be released and to be able to return home. At the same time, it is important that we work to strengthen the global norm against these arbitrary detentions, against what is a truly horrific practice. So we work together on both.

With Trevor Reed – who returned home a few months ago – we’ve shown that the president is willing to make tough decisions if it means the safe return of Americans. At the same time, we are working with partners around the world to use all the relevant tools at our disposal, including some recently announced in an executive order issued by the President, to respond and impose costs on those who engage in this practice. And I believe that we can actually fulfill both imperatives.

And let me just say this: I think you can expect to hear me in the weeks and months ahead talk more about the efforts we’re making to strengthen this global norm against arbitrary detention to deter countries from doing it in first place.

QUESTION: Can you talk to a grain of —

SECRETARY BLINKEN:  Oh, I’m sorry, grain, I’m sorry, I didn’t get there, Andrea – the second part of the question. Look, Andrea, it was incredibly powerful when we were in Bali a few weeks ago at the G20 to see foreign ministers from around the world demanding that Russia end its blockade of Odessa and grain that has been blocked in Ukraine for six months – more than 20 million tonnes. And minister after minister did it from countries around the world geographically to the extent that Foreign Minister Lavrov decided not to return until the end of the session held by the G20 foreign ministers.

And then I think that the steps that we have seen that Russia has taken to at least on paper agree that the grain will leave Ukraine is a response to the pressure that Russia is feeling not only from us, not only from the G7 countries or even the G20 countries, but from countries around the world that they are saying – whatever they think about anything else – to break this blockade. Let the grain go. Let us feed our people. Let the prices fall.

But the test, of course, is now whether there is actual implementation of the agreement. That’s what we’re looking at. We will see in the coming days if what Russia signed is serious and if the seed will come out. That’s what we strive for. The bombings that you saw the other day – I mean, step back for a second. Regardless of what they were targeting, what right does Russia have to bomb anything in Ukraine, or anything in Odessa, or anything in port? No. Zero. All he is doing is furthering his efforts to conquer Ukraine, which have failed and will not succeed.

But specifically in the case of grain, what we need to see – what we’re looking at, but what the world is looking at, more importantly – is whether those ships will start sailing, whether the grain will start moving. We’ll find out in the next few days.

QUESTION:  Thank you. Happy summer, Mr. Secretary.

SECRETARY BLINKEN:  Thank you, too.

QUESTION:  And perhaps most importantly, happy birthday to the State Department. Today is – I believe – my birthday, right?

MR PRICE:  Two hundred and thirty-three years.

SECRETARY BLINKEN:  Where’s the cake? (Laughter.)

QUESTION:  I don’t know, I was expecting you to bring one up.

SECRETARY BLINKEN:  We’ll be back with that. Thank you.

QUESTION:  So two things, but they will be very brief. First, when you’re talking about this significant proposal, can you — I realize you’re not going to go into the specifics of it, but does that include substitution? Think about what was done for Trevor Reed.

SECRETARY BLINKEN:  Because I want to make sure that the proposal that we put forward has a good chance of moving forward, I’m just not going to go into that in public.

QUESTION:  Okay. Second, for the last few months – well, the last six months – you’ve been talking about how Russia is internationally isolated, and yet we see Foreign Minister Lavrov flying around Africa and the Middle East, and President Putin going to Tehran, and say what you will about that. that he has – he just goes to Iran. They claim they are not isolated, and now you will talk to them. So what does that say about the administration’s efforts to isolate Russia when you’re actually reaching out to them now to discuss the issues?

SECRETARY BLINKEN: Matt, in terms of some of the trips involving, for example, the secretary of state, what I see is a desperate defense game to try to somehow justify to the world the actions that Russia has taken with its aggression against Ukraine in general and, more specifically, its blocking the Ukrainian ports and denying the world at a critical moment the grain, wheat, food it needs. So they are doing everything they can to somehow justify what they are doing at a time when we hear from almost every corner of the world insisting that Russia end this blockade and let the grain go.

Therefore, there is no doubt that Foreign Minister Lavrov will share some interesting views on the war, Russian aggression, as well as on grains. For example, one of the things that Russia has been doing is blaming sanctions for the challenges of getting Russian grain out of Russia, when in fact, as everyone knows and as we keep making clear, the sanctions that we imposed on Russia because of its aggression against Ukraine from day one were exempt wheat, food products, shipping and insurance required for emigration from Russia. So it’s a fabrication. I’m sure it will be repeated, but we will continue to expose it.

But what I see in what they’re doing is, again, a desperate attempt to explain away the fact that the food crisis that went from three years ago to 100 million people being food insecure, to about 160 million people during COVID , and now it is far more. 200 million due to the Russian blockade of Ukrainian ports – this somehow tries to justify what is unjustified. The only way Russia can fully respond to the concerns of the world – look, the ideal way would be to stop the war, stop the aggression. But without that, break the blockade. There is an agreement on the table to do that. What will be much more important than what Foreign Minister Lavrov says on his travels is what Russia actually does to implement the agreement. This is what the world is looking for.

QUESTION:  Going back to your discussions with the Russians about a significant proposal, any – what has been their response up to this point?

SECRETARY BLINKEN:  Well, I’m not going to characterize it. Again, my interest and my focus is on making sure that the best we can achieve – get to yes, and we –

QUESTION:  Do you feel that – sorry.

SECRETARY BLINKEN:  And I don’t want to qualify that. Look, one of the things that’s going on is this, and I mentioned in response to Andrea a minute ago:  We’re very focused on getting Brittney and Paul home. At the same time, I am also focused every day on the arbitrarily detained Americans in more than half a dozen countries around the world. We have a team working on it 24/7 led by Roger Carstens. This is the most important question for me. That’s something that I see as fundamental to my own responsibilities in this job: to look out for the men and women of this department, to look out for all Americans who are arbitrarily detained overseas or otherwise need our help when they’re overseas. I say that because this is something we do every day, and most of the time we do it quietly behind the scenes, for obvious reasons. And I would say that just because you don’t see us doing something or hear us talk about it doesn’t mean it’s not happening. Just the opposite. This is something that – bringing people home, bringing Brittney home, bringing Paul home. It’s something we’re focused on 24/7.

QUESTION:  Mr. Secretary, let me get a comment on the administration’s increasing calls for (inaudible) state sponsorship of terrorism. If you ask anyone in Ukraine, they will tell you what Russia is doing every day – the extent of its brutality – if you compare it to the countries that have already been marked – North Korea, Iran and Syria may not (inaudible). So what are we waiting for?

SECRETARY BLINKEN:  On this, a couple of things. First, I have an obligation, the department has an obligation to comply with the law. The criteria by which we make this decision are defined by Congress. So that’s what we’re looking at. And our task is to try to take these criteria established by Congress and compare them to the facts in order to make sure that the facts in a particular situation really meet the criteria established by law.

Meanwhile, as we look at it, we’ve agreed with dozens of countries around the world on four continents to the strongest sanctions, export controls, that I think have ever been put in place. We have also limited international aid and foreign aid. And the costs that we and other countries have imposed on Russia are absolutely in line with the consequences that would result from declaring the state a sponsor of terrorism. So the practical effects of what we do are the same.

In general, I would only say this. We have methodically expelled Russia from the international – from the international economic order – I spoke about this a while ago; the most favored nation status and borrowing privileges from international financial institutions have disappeared; we limited his ability to access the frozen funds of the central bank, to pay the debt; and what you have seen is a strong influence and a growing influence on the Russian economy and the economic prospects of Russia in the future. So in terms of the impact that we have, it’s very much in line with everything that the SST designation would allow us to do. We mostly do everything we should and want to do.

So again, what we’re focused on is making sure we’re meeting the law and the criteria set out in the law, and making sure we’re having the strongest performance possible.

MR PRICE:  We have time for one last question. Kylie.

QUESTION:  Thank you. Secretary, I’m wondering – I know you don’t want to go into the details of this proposed deal that you’ve put on the table. But can you detail President Biden’s role in making that offer to the Russians? Was it on? Has he checked out?

And then my second question is: Given that you are expected to speak with the Russian Foreign Minister in the coming days, aren’t the Russians getting here exactly what they wanted in detaining the Americans: receiving a phone call from the Secretary of State about these detained Americans while it lasts this war in Russia? Why don’t you continue these talks quietly instead of in this public way, where the Russians get that victory to talk to the US secretary of state?

SECRETARY BLINKEN:  Thank you. Kylie, as for the president, of course he’s not only directly involved, he signs off on any and all of our proposals – especially when it comes to Americans who are being arbitrarily detained abroad, including this particular case.

Second, I think it is useful to convey clear, direct messages to the Russians about the key priorities for us. And as I mentioned, that includes securing Brittney Griner and Paul Whelan’s homecoming. They also include, as I mentioned and I would expect to mention, the implementation of the grain agreement because what we see and hear around the world is a desperate need for food, a desperate need to lower prices. And if we can help through our direct diplomacy to encourage the Russians to fulfill the commitments they have made, that will help people around the world, and I am determined to do that.

And then, as I mentioned earlier, I think it’s very important now that we see what Russia’s next plan is—that is, the annexation of more Ukrainian territory—that the Russians, Foreign Minister Lavrov, hear directly from me on behalf of the United States to see what they do, we know what they are doing and we will never accept it. It will never become legal. There will always be consequences if this is what they do and if they try to maintain it.

So we exercise judgment in any case where we think our diplomacy can hopefully advance our interests and values, including direct engagement. We make judgments about when it makes sense to talk about it in public, and as a general suggestion, I believe in as much transparency as we can have, and sometimes we judge that we will keep conversations quiet.

So in this case, I thought it was important to clarify that in relation to these issues – the detention of our American citizens, the food crisis the world is facing due to Russian aggression against Ukraine, and the plans that Russia now has to implement the annexation of Ukrainian territory – that our Russian colleagues hear directly from me. Thank you.

MR PRICE:  Thank you all.

SECRETARY BLINKEN:  Thank you all.

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