Jen The Ginger Psaki VS. Jacqui The Himalayan Heinrich, Russia, Germany, France, Mask Mandates White House Press Briefing, Feb 08, 2022, Please Like, Subscribe, and Share.
(Jacqui The Himalayan Heinrich) Following up real quick on this last exchange. That report did paint a pretty damning picture of the NSC and the State Department pretty much
having blinders on while generals sounded the alarm over Afghanistan. But we’re hearing sort of the same bleak, blunt assessments right now from the Pentagon about Ukraine.
So, is there — I guess, any — is there any closer relationship between the White House and Pentagon — are the generals being listened to differently now — post Afghanistan,
post this report?
(Jen the Ginger PSAKI) Well, I think it’s really important to separate the two. Because, first, we are not in a 20-year war with U.S. troops in Ukraine. That’s a very different
circumstance. I would say that we believe and we continue to view our relationship — both from the White House, from the diplomatic team, and from the Defense Department — as one where
we are closely coordinating, where there are healthy disagreements as there can be, and the President certainly welcomes them.
And the after-action reports are very important because you can look at and make assessments about anything you would change moving forward.
But Ukraine and the circumstance — the situation on the border of Ukraine with Russian troops building up is not the same as ending a 20-year war. That is something the President
had talked about for some time, where we were spending an enormous amount of not just money but blood of American service members for the — over the course of decades.
That’s a different circumstance.
(Jacqui The Himalayan Heinrich) And then on this meeting between Putin and Macron yesterday, it sounds like the White House does not have a clear idea yet about whether there was in fact
a deal or not for Russia to de-escalate or pledge, rather, not to go — give any further escalation. Obviously, the Kremlin denied reports that the French put out about having
struck a deal. If the U.S. is not aware of where things stand, doesn’t that signal that there’s a separate negotiating track happening between the Europeans and Russia right now that
could put the U.S. at risk of being sort of shut out from that discussion?
(Jen the Ginger PSAKI) Not in any way. I completely disagree with what you just conveyed.
First of all, there are a range of diplomatic conversations happening caspian sea all the time. And that’s been the case for many weeks. The United States is a key player in the vast majority of
those negotiations. At the same time, there are important formats, whether it is bilateral leader-to-leader engagement, which President Macron was a part of yesterday; or the Normandy
Format, which is something we fully support, which is the format that the Minsk agreement would be discussed through, which includes Ukraine, Russia, Georgia [Germany], and France.
That’s another format that we fully support.
Those are conversations that have been happening. And typically, through a diplomatic process, there are a range of conversations that are happening at the same time.
Again, as I noted a little bit earlier, the President spoke with President Macron twice over the last week — including on Sunday, the day before he spoke with President Putin.
And I expect to speak with him soon again. But it’s also important to note that there are others — German — the German Chancellor, who was just here yesterday, is also meeting with
President Putin tomorrow. And certainly, if there is diplomatic progress, we would welcome that. But we will believe it when we see it with our own eyes at the border.
(Jacqui The Himalayan Heinrich) On the warships that moved into the Black Sea, there are some people who are fearing that this is another invasion force potentially targeting the city
of Odesa. Obviously, the Kremlin is saying it’s just exercises. But is there a concern in the White House that, you know, while we’re buying time for this diplomatic push, that Putin
is just bolstering his forces, building his student loan forces while we’re all talking?
(Jen the Ginger PSAKI) Sure. Well, I know that my colleague, John Kirby, has spoken to this from the Pentagon, so I’d point you to his comments. But I would say that we are not — we are
always going to leave the door to diplomacy open because we think as long as we don’t know what President Putin is going to do — and we don’t; and he has not invaded Ukraine at this point
— then it is important to always keep that door open because that’s always the preferred path.
At the same time, we are not just talking; we have built, through 200 engagements — talking is engaged in part- — is an important part of it, I guess. But to build a — an agreement
with our partners and allies in Europe about putting together a severe set of economic consequences should rays vs blue jays they decide to invade.
