A few hours after Biden’s speech and the announcement of the first package of US sanctions on Russia, US Secretary of State Karen Donfried gave an exclusive interview to SKAI and Sia Kosioni on Europe-Eurasia.
Full interview:
Sia Kosioni: I listened carefully to President Biden say yesterday in the context of the announcements of the first sanctions package that the United States and its allies remain open to diplomacy if it is serious. What does “serious” mean? What are the conditions you set for the diplomatic path to remain open?
Karen Donfried: Foreign Minister Blinken was ready to meet with Foreign Minister Lavrov, his Russian counterpart tomorrow, in Switzerland to pursue a diplomatic path and seek a diplomatic solution to the Ukraine crisis, as the United States believe that the only successful solution may be diplomatic. But the condition was that there was no Russian invasion of Ukraine. And then what we saw on Monday was President Putin making a speech that made it clear that he did not respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine. It recognized the so-called Independence of the Donetsk and Luhansk Republics, where violent Russian proxies have existed since 2014. And then President Putin also authorized Russian troops to enter what is sovereign Ukrainian territory. So you heard President Biden describe this yesterday as the beginning of an invasion, and so the United States has now imposed two doses of sanctions to make it clear how much we condemn and disapprove of these actions. In this context, Minister Blinken decided that it would not be possible for him to travel to Switzerland to meet with his Russian counterpart, because it would be more a pretext for diplomacy than any really serious diplomatic effort.
SK: So you are telling me that the US considers Russian actions as the beginning of an invasion. And I ask this specifically because there has been a confusion about how you characterize what is already happening in Donbass. I also heard President Biden use the term “political challenge” yesterday, and I want to ask you, what is the red line for the United States beyond which you will take action and what kind of action?
ΚΝ: Yes, you may have heard Secretary of State Blinken last week at the UN Security Council. And among the things he set out there was the “Russian Plan,” which we know a lot about at this point. We saw it in Ukraine in 2014. We saw it before in Georgia and we expected that there would be challenges and distraction operations. And then what we saw this week was that Russia was essentially claiming part of Ukraine’s sovereign territory. And it is completely unacceptable. And I must point out that the Greek Prime Minister and other Greek officials were equally clear in their condemnation of these actions. So what the US has said is that as Russia escalates, so do we. Thus, in the first case, we implemented a package of sanctions specifically targeting the LNR and the DNR. Yesterday we implemented a series of sanctions targeting Russian financial institutions. I am willing to specialize. There have been sanctions, sanctions of complete blockade on two major Russian financial institutions, the VEB and also the military bank. The assets of these Banks total $ 80 billion, and these measures will freeze their assets in the United States, bar American individuals or businesses from doing business with them, and exclude them from the global financial system. will block access to the dollar. Second, we have extended our existing sanctions on Russian sovereign debt. We had already banned financial institutions from trading Russian sovereign debt on the primary market. We are now extending this ban to the secondary market. And third, we impose sanctions on members of the Russian elite and their families. We did not think about this kind of sanctions in 2014. So we start high and intend to stay high. So, if Russia escalates further, then it can expect additional severe sanctions from us.
SK: The question is whether these sanctions are strong enough to prevent further action by Russia, as the Crimean case has shown that diplomacy and international institutions ultimately do not have many weapons against Russia.
ΚΝ: The United States, of course, has many weapons, but the United States was clear. We are not seeking war with Russia. The United States was clear. We do not send troops to Ukraine. There are many other weapons in our arsenal that are not military and I believe the sanctions we have agreed on with our allies and partners. And Greece is a critical part of that, either because of its membership in the European Union or because of its membership in NATO. We have worked hand in hand with Greece and other allies and partners to build a package of response measures that are mainly cost-effective and will have a huge impact on Russia. If it chooses to engage in further aggression against Ukraine.
SK: So you are telling us that there are no conditions under which the US would approve a military engagement.
ΚΝ: What the US has said very clearly is that we have an Article 5 commitment to our NATO allies, which of course includes Greece. And you have seen the Biden government already taking steps to strengthen NATO’s East and South-East Wing. These countries are more exposed to Russia. And if Russia were to invade Ukraine further they would be much more vulnerable. The President announced additional measures for this yesterday. That way we can be sure that NATO will be strengthened. We will also continue to provide security assistance to Ukraine. However, as you know, Ukraine is not a member of NATO, so there is no Article 5 guarantee that it can be extended to Ukraine.
SK: Madam Minister, what will happen if Putin does not take further aggressive action? Can the Luhansk and Donetsk Declaration of Independence be tolerated and soon turned into a de facto situation? Why, if this happens, then what is the use of International Law, the Treaties and all the post-Cold War tools developed to maintain stability in the world?
ΚΝ: We would argue that the rule of law is fundamental to having a peaceful and prosperous world. And that is why, in the first instance, this conflict, of course, concerns Ukraine. And Ukraine is a valuable partner of the United States and we stand by Ukraine. There are also fundamental principles at stake here and you are right that these principles have upheld the European security order. One of them is that changing borders by using force is not acceptable. Another is that each country has a sovereign right to determine its own foreign and security policy, including the alliances it chooses to join. There are many more I could express. And I would like to point out that the documents containing these principles in many cases had the support not only of the US but also of Russia, so it is the wider security class and the state
SK: And my last question, Undersecretary. How do you expect Putin to instrumentalize gas? Aren’t you worried about the consequences of a possible flow cut from Moscow? Dmitry Medvedev has already promised a nightmare on energy prices.
ΚΝ: The issue of energy, security and energy supply seems to be high in this crisis, as much of Europe receives a significant share of its energy, gas and oil from Russia. That is why you have also seen the Biden government work very closely with its European energy allies. You may have noticed that in late January, President Biden and Ursula von der Layen jointly issued a joint statement on their commitment to energy security and energy supply in Europe.
SK: Mrs Donfried, thank you very much for this interview. Good evening.
ΚΝ: It was my pleasure. I appreciate it a lot. Goodbye.
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