The following is a transcript of an interview with Secretary of State Antony Blinken that aired on Sunday, March 6, 2022 on “Face the Nation.”
MARGARET BRENNAN: Now let’s go to Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who is in Moldova this morning. Mr. Secretary, good morning. Vladimir Putin–
SECRETARY OF STATE ANTONY BLINKEN: Good morning, Margaret.
MARGARET BRENNAN: –he has said that sanctions are equivalent to a declaration of war. They are affecting their economy, but they are not stopping their army. When will sanctions stop the fight?
SEC. BLINKEN: Margaret, the impact of the sanctions is already devastating, and that’s probably why she said what she said. The ruble is in free fall. Its stock market has been closed for almost a week. We are seeing a recession in Russia. Consumers can’t buy commodities because companies are fleeing Russia, so it’s having a big impact. But at the same time, we continue to see President Putin bend over backwards and engage in this aggression against Ukraine. This continues. I think we need to be prepared. Unfortunately, tragically for this to continue for a while.
MARGARET BRENNAN: NATO has said that none of its 30 members are willing to establish a no-fly zone. President Biden has been very clear. He has no interest in this or in the combat troops. But what else can the United States do here? If, for example, the Polish government, a member of NATO, wants to send fighter jets, does that have the green light from the US? Or were you afraid that this would increase the tension?
SEC. BLINKEN: No, that has a green light. In fact, right now we are talking to our Polish friends about what we could do to meet their needs if in fact they decide to provide these fighter jets to the Ukrainians. What could we do? How can we help ensure that they get something to fill the planes they are delivering to the Ukrainians? We are in very active discussions with them about this. Look, I’ve been in Europe for the last few days working closely as usual with our NATO allies and partners, the European Union, the G7 countries, and together we continue to take steps to increase pressure on Russia. through additional sanctions, all of which are under very active discussion and will be implemented in the coming days, as well as taking further steps to give Ukrainians what they need to defend themselves from Russian aggression.
MARGARET BRENNAN: How does Vladimir Putin convince you that this is not a regime change? How do you get it to go backwards?
SEC. BLINKEN: For us, this is not a change of regime. That is, the Russian people must decide who wants to lead it and look, as I said, the challenge is this: Vladimir Putin continues to press this aggression. That’s why I say I’m afraid this could last a while, but it will end and end with Ukraine prevailing because even though Putin has the capacity, because he can, the manpower, the team he has what he can carry out and can continue to crush these incredibly brave and resilient Ukrainians. Winning a battle is not the same as winning a war. Taking the city is not the same as capturing the hearts and minds of Ukrainians. What they have shown with extraordinary courage is that they will not be subject to the will of Vladimir Putin nor will they be under the thumb of Russia. So if this takes another week, another month, another year to play, it will be and I know how this will end. But the question is, can we end it sooner rather than later with less suffering than, you know, to move on? That is, that is the challenge, and that is why we are trying to put as much pressure on Putin as possible. That is why we are trying to do everything possible to make sure that the Ukrainians can defend themselves.
MARGARET BRENNAN: President Zelensky has repeatedly said that these may be his last days. If Russia kills him, what will be the consequence? And are you working on a contingency plan to support a Ukrainian government without him at the helm?
SEC. BLINKEN: First of all, let me say this, the leadership that President Zelensky has shown to the whole government is remarkable. They have been the embodiment of this incredibly brave Ukrainian people. I was in Ukraine only a day ago, at least about 15 feet away in Ukraine with my friend and colleague, the Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba. Ukrainians have plans in place that I will not talk about or go into detail about to make sure that there is what we would call continuity of government in one way or another. And let me leave it at that.
MARGARET BRENNAN: I also want to ask you about another massive diplomatic enterprise, and that is the attempt to negotiate an agreement to put an end to Iran’s nuclear program. Yesterday, Russia’s top diplomat, Sergei Lavrov-Lavrov, told him personally that he wants you to personally give him a written guarantee of sanctions exemptions to maintain cooperation on the nuclear deal. Are you giving him this? Is the whole deal with Iran at risk?
SEC. BLINKEN: The sanctions that are being put in place and that have been put in place in Russia have nothing to do with the nuclear deal with Iran and the prospects of re-entering that deal. These things are totally different and unrelated in any way, so I think that’s irrelevant. The point is to return to the agreement. Clearly, if we can do it in our own interest, getting out of the deal was one of the worst mistakes we have made in recent years. He let out of the box all the Iranian nuclear program that we put in one box. And so if there’s a way to re-implement this agreement effectively, we’re interested in doing it, and we’re working on it as we speak. It is also in Russia’s interest, regardless of anything else, for Iran not to have a nuclear weapon or to have the capability to produce a weapon in a very, very short time. This interest is maintained again, no matter where we are in our relationship with Russia as a result of its aggression on Ukraine.
MARGARET BRENNAN: What are the prospects for this agreement and also two other aspects here of the American hostages being held by Iran at the moment? And do you see the possibility of Iran agreeing to stop threatening people on American soil as it did with a journalist living in New York, as your predecessor, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, would have threatened?
SEC. BLINKEN: We’ve made real progress in recent weeks to get back to the re-implementation of the JCPOA, the nuclear deal with Iran, and I think we’re close, but a couple of very difficult issues remain and nothing has been done until that everything is done. So unless we’re able to resolve a couple of outstanding issues, we don’t understand that we’re not going to get back to the deal, but we’re working on it right now. We continue to believe that returning to the agreement is deeply in our interest. Again, as I said, it was a big mistake to let Iran’s nuclear program out. Returning to the proper terms would put this program back in the box where it was. So we’ll see where we go in the next few days. But it’s really about whether we can solve a couple of outstanding issues. If we can, we will return to the agreement. If we can’t, we won’t.
MARGARET BRENNAN: But on these specific issues of stopping and stopping the threats against those on American soil and on the release of hostages are these two demands?
SEC. BLINKEN: So when it comes to hostages, regardless of the talks and negotiations on the deal, that’s something we’re constantly working on and we’re working on an independent track that’s not tied to the deal. So one way or another. We will continue to do our utmost to ensure that detained detainees are returned to their homes, whether in Iran or elsewhere. And that’s something we’re working on every day when it comes to threats that Iran is making when it comes to actions being taken outside the nuclear area, including activities in the Middle East region that they threaten us with allies and partners, again, regardless of whether we return to the agreement or not. We will stand up and act against them every day. When we were in the agreement initially we were very clear that nothing in the agreement prevents us from taking action against Iran when it is involved in actions that threaten us, threaten our allies and partners, this will go on for a long time. So it’s not that it doesn’t depend on agreement in one way or another. We also do this every day, and we do it much more effectively when we work closely with allies and partners.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Mr. Secretary, thank you for your time.
SEC. BLINKEN: Thank you, Margaret. It’s good to be with you.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Face the Nation will be back in a minute. Stay with us.
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