Secretary Antony J. Blinken And United Kingdom Foreign Secretary David Lammy Joint Press Availability

FOREIGN SECRETARY LAMMY:  Well, welcome, Tony.

SECRETARY BLINKEN:  Thank you.

FOREIGN SECRETARY LAMMY:  You’ve been a great support to me in my early weeks as foreign secretary, and I’m very grateful.  I think we’ve spoken almost every other week since I took office.  So it’s a pleasure to welcome you here to London, and clearly we’re meeting at a critical moment, a critical moment for securing a ceasefire in Gaza, with the shocking deaths in Khan Younis this morning only reinforcing how desperately needed that ceasefire is, and a critical moment for supporting Ukraine as we enter the third winter of Putin’s illegal war.  It’s also a critical moment addressing the climate crisis as we head towards UNGA and to COP.

As the closest of friends and allies, our response is clear:  We’re united in our desire to address these challenges together.  We just opened a new UK-U.S. Strategic Dialogue, a forum which I believe can help us remain strategically aligned in tackling these challenges.  On Russia and Ukraine, today I can confirm that Tony and I will be traveling to Kyiv this week, the first joint visit of this kind for well over a decade.  We are the closest of allies, so I’m delighted that we will travel together demonstrating our commitment to Ukraine.

And on the Middle East, we are completely aligned on the need to secure that ceasefire, completely aligned on the need to get the region onto a path to peace and reconciliation with a two-state solution at its heart, and completely aligned too on the need to tackle Iran’s malign activity in the region and beyond.  We’re seeing a disturbing pattern of greater Iranian support for the Kremlin’s illegal war, and we discussed today our shared commitment to holding Tehran to account for their undermining of global stability.

Last month we also saw a historic breakthrough in defense innovation between our two countries.  The so-called ITAR exemption is a landmark export control change which will benefit the U.S. and AUKUS partners covering up to 500 million pounds worth of defense exports a year.

And finally, we discussed today our cooperation on global challenges ahead of UNGA in New  York.  We share a desire to see ambitious global action on climate, to see secure global supply chains for critical minerals, and to see relations with global majority countries prosper on the basis of mutual respect.

The UK-U.S. relationship is special.  It’s special to me personally and it’s special to so many Brits and Americans.  Only a few weeks ago we saw the Arsenal women’s team head over there for their preseason.  They were following, of course, the Tottenham Hotspur women’s football team.  But Tony, it’s a pleasure to welcome you here today.  Thank you so much for spending the time.

SECRETARY BLINKEN:  David, thank you so much for not just your warm hospitality today but the extraordinary engagement that we’ve had ever since you’ve been on the job.  And I said earlier that the foreign secretary hit the ground at a full sprint, and that is not an exaggeration.  I think given the multiplicity, the complexity, the urgency of the challenges we’re facing, we are so grateful to have such a strong partner in David, the government, the prime minister.  And today and the days ahead we’re continuing to deepen the work that we’re doing together.

We talk about the special relationship.  I like to call it essential – essential for our nations, essential for our people, essential for people well beyond our shores.  And that’s why on David’s first visit to the United States we agreed to launch this Strategic Dialogue to even more effectively advance our enduring shared priorities, our interests, our values – priorities that will be at the heart of the discussions that our team are having but also that Prime Minister Starmer and President Biden will have later this week in Washington.

Those priorities, of course, include our resolute support for Ukraine faced with the ongoing Russian aggression.  The United States, the United Kingdom are leaders in providing security assistance to Ukraine, and together from day one continuing to this day we stand strongly with our Ukrainian partners.  As David said, we’ll be traveling together to Kyiv this week, and I think it’s a critical moment for Ukraine in the midst of what is an intense fall fighting season with Russia continuing to escalate its aggression – aggression against civilians, against critical infrastructure, and of course, against Ukrainian forces.  We see it ramping up its attacks on cities, on people, in particular targeting the energy infrastructure – electricity – all in advance of the coldest months – Putin’s winter playbook of weaponizing energy and electricity.

This joint trip reflects strong transatlantic support aligned also with our NATO allies, with our Indo-Pacific partners, with the more than 50 countries that continue to strongly and resolutely support Ukraine.  Together we’re working to make sure that Ukraine can defend its territory against the ongoing aggression, that it will be able to stand strongly on its own two feet militarily, economically, democratically, and that it will remain on the path that the Ukrainian people so desire it to be on of closer integration with Europe, with transatlantic institutions.  Ukraine is clearly on that path.  Together we’re going to continue to help it move along that path.

Now, one of the reasons that Putin is able to continue this aggression is because of the provision of support from the People’s Republic of China, the biggest supplier of machine tools, the biggest supplier of microelectronics, all of which are helping Russia sustain its defense industrial base.  Our countries are aligned in holding accountable PRC entities that are engaged in these practices fueling the Russian war machine.

We also discussed joint efforts to ensure peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and freedom of navigation and overflight of the South China Sea.  For both of us, maintaining peace and stability, preserving the status quo is essential.  And it’s essential not just to us; it’s, again, essential to countries all around the world.

We also agree on the importance of continuing to seek ways to cooperate with China on global challenges that affect our mutual interests and affect people everywhere, like the climate talks that a U.S. team held in Beijing just in recent days in advance of the next COP.

Now, to wage its war of aggression on Ukraine, Putin is also relying increasingly on help from Iran and the DPRK, in these instances to get actual weapons, in clear violation of multiple UN Security Council resolutions.  Now, Tehran has long supplied deadly drones.  It’s built a drone factory in Russia.  It’s trained Russian personnel on how to operate them.  For some time, the United States has warned of an additional threat: the provision by Iran of ballistic missiles to Russia for use in Ukraine.  We’ve warned Tehran publicly, we’ve warned Tehran privately that taking this step would constitute a dramatic escalation.  Dozens of Russian military personnel have been trained in Iran to use the Fath-360 close-range ballistic missile system, which has a maximum range of 75 miles.  Russia has now received shipments of these ballistic missiles and will likely use them within weeks in Ukraine against Ukrainians.

Russia has an array of its own ballistic missiles, but the supply of Iranian missiles enables Russia to use more of its arsenal for targets that are further from the frontline, while dedicating the new missiles it’s receiving from Iran for closer-range targets.  This development and the growing cooperation between Russia and Iran threatens European security and demonstrates how Iran’s destabilizing influence reaches far beyond the Middle East.  For its part, Russia is sharing technology that Iran seeks – this is a two-way street – including on nuclear issues as well as some space information.  So as Iran’s destabilizing activities spread, so does Russia, sowing even greater insecurity in their regions and around the world.

In recent days, we’ve been sharing intelligence behind these findings with our allies and partners, and working together to ensure that there will be significant economic consequences for Tehran’s actions.  The United States will be announcing further sanctions on Iran later today, including additional measures on Iran Air.  We expect allies and partners will be announcing their own new measures on Iran as well.  Iran’s new president and foreign minister have repeatedly said that they want to restore engagement with Europe, they want to receive sanctions relief.  Destabilizing actions like these will achieve exactly the opposite.

As David mentioned, we also discussed efforts by Russia to interfere in our democracies.  We agree that deepening cooperation with our partners in Europe to push back against the Kremlin’s efforts to use disinformation and lies to polarize our societies, to distort the public debate, that this work is essential.

Finally, on Israel and Gaza, we talked today about our ongoing efforts to prevent the crisis in the Middle East from escalating further.  Our nations helped Israel defend itself against an unprecedented attack from Iran a few months ago.  We’re prepared to act together to help Israel defend itself in the future.  But we’re equally determined to end the conflict in Gaza as soon as possible, and the quickest way to do so remains bringing the ceasefire agreement over the finish line.  It’s the best way to get the hostages home, the best way to get a massive infusion of assistance for people who so desperately need it in Gaza.  But we agreed that we cannot wait on a ceasefire in order to continue to do everything possible to get humanitarian assistance to those who need it.  And you see what we’re doing now with the vaccinations and the polio campaign to prevent a terrible outbreak of polio in Gaza.

Let me just note in conclusion that we also talked more broadly – and our teams will be talking more broadly in the coming days – about how we can strengthen the alliances that we are both a central part of, in particular NATO.  We welcome Britain’s new “NATO first” defense strategy, the prime minister’s commitment to increase UK defense spending to 2.5 percent.  And we’re urging others to do the same, especially in light of the serious threats that we all face.

We discuss continued trilateral cooperation with Australia through AUKUS, especially through nuclear-powered submarines.  This reflects growing efforts to weave together allies in Europe and the Indo-Pacific, to build bridges between them, because what happens in one theater has an impact on the other.  And more and more, our allies and partners in Europe, the transatlantic theater, and the Indo-Pacific theater recognize this and are acting on it.

Finally, the prime minister and David have made it a top priority to reset relations with Europe, including seeking closer UK-Europe cooperation through a wide-ranging UK-EU security pact.  We fully support these efforts.  It’s good for the UK; it’s good for Europe.  It’s good for the United States, which benefits when our transatlantic allies are tied even more closely together.

And I know when the President sees the prime minister on Friday, he’ll also look forward to having a few words about Northern Ireland.  We are very pleased at the commitment that Prime Minister Starmer and Secretary for Northern Ireland Benn are showing to the Good Friday Agreement, to supporting Northern Ireland’s prosperity.  And we share this goal, and we’ll work with all parties to sustain and advance the agreement.

David’s often said that Britain is always stronger when it works with others.  So is the United States, especially when we work with our closest ally, the United Kingdom.  I look forward to building on that strength and also spending a little bit of quality time with David as we make our way to Ukraine the days ahead.  Thank you.

MODERATOR:  So now, first, Dominic Waghorn from Sky News.

QUESTION:  Thank you very much.  Mr. Secretary, you’ve announced new sanctions today.  We’ve had a lot of sanctions and the war grinds on for – as you say, into a third winter.  What the Ukrainians have said they want – and reportedly your British allies have also said this privately – is the freedom to use the long-range missiles that you’re supplying them to do what they’re designed to do, which is to hit targets deep in Russia, to hit the source of those glide bombs and possibly the new missiles you’re saying that that supply of ballistic missiles could allow the Russians to now use.  Has that time now come?  And if not, why not, and what are you afraid of?

SECRETARY BLINKEN:  So I think a hallmark from day one of our efforts to support Ukraine against this aggression is to work to make sure that they have what they need when they need it to be most effective in dealing with the Russian aggression.  And I think that you’ve seen – again from day one – that we have continuously adjusted and adapted based on the battlefield conditions, based on what Russia was doing in a given place and by given means.  And that’s been a through-line in everything that we’ve done.

I’ve said this many times before, so my own colleagues may be tired of hearing me say it, but it’s so important as we’re making these decisions that we factor in a number of critical elements.  It’s not just the system itself that counts.  You have to ask can the Ukrainian – Ukrainians effectively use it, and sometimes that requires significant training, which we’ve done.  Do they have the ability to maintain it?  Again, this is something that we’ve worked on.  And then is it part of an effective strategy?  All of these are questions we’re continuously asking ourselves.  Secretary Austin, Secretary of Defense, his British counterpart, and others who just gathered on the defense side are constantly working these issues.

Now, one of the purposes of the trip that we’ll be taking together is to hear directly from the Ukrainian leadership, including Prime Minister Zelenskyy about exactly – President Zelenskyy, excuse me – about exactly how the Ukrainians see their needs in this moment, towards what objectives, and what we can do to support those needs.  So all I can tell you is we’ll be listening intently to our Ukrainian partners.  We’ll both be reporting back to the prime minister, to President Biden in the coming days.  And I fully anticipate this is something they’ll take up when they meet on Friday.

MODERATOR:  Great.  Thank you.  Daphne Psaledakis from Reuters.

QUESTION:  Thank you.  Secretary Blinken, the U.S. has provided Ukraine with billions in military aid since 2022 but has limited the use of U.S. weapons to Ukrainian soil and defensive cross-border operations.  Ukrainian President Zelenskyy has pushed back against allies who have supplied long-range weapons but said Ukraine cannot use them deep inside Russia.  So to follow up on my colleague’s question, what will your message be to the Ukrainians about this during your visit this week?  And more broadly, what do you see as the potential military impact of Iran supplying the ballistic missiles to Russia?

Foreign Secretary, has Britain received sign off to allow Ukraine to use the Storm Shadow missiles to strike targets inside Russia?  And have you pushed for this?  Thank you.

SECRETARY BLINKEN:  Thank you.  I’m tempted to refer you to the previous answer, but look, again, I just want to emphasize this: as always, we’re going to look and to listen and to make sure that we have our own best assessment of what’s needed, what the objectives are that our Ukrainian partners have in the weeks and months ahead, and how we can best support them.  And we will take that back and we’ll both inform our bosses – the prime minister and the President – and again, I fully expect that will be a part of their conversation on Friday.

A lot goes into each one of these decisions, but every step along the way our purpose has been to make the Ukrainians as effective as possible in warding off the Russian aggression.  And the fact of the matter is if you look at where we are, it’s – these are difficult days given this aggression, but Ukraine continues to stand strong.  And I believe that it’s very much on a trajectory where it will be able to stand strongly on its own two feet – militarily, economically, democratically – will be increasingly integrated with Europe.  And Putin will continue to know a strategic failure in Ukraine, and the Ukrainians will know a strategic success in building a strong, vibrant country.  But a lot more work has to go into making sure that that happens, and we will be listening very intently on this and reporting back.

On the Iranian weapons, as I said, this gives the Russians an additional capability and it gives them additional flexibility.  They have ballistic missiles already, but the particular Iranian missiles that they’re getting have a certain range.  This means that Russia will be able to dedicate its own ballistic missiles to longer-range targets, not use them on the shorter-range because it will have these Iranian missiles – that have about a 75-mile radius to them – to do that.  So it adds to their capacity and it fuels the war.

Anyone who is providing assistance to Russia – whether it’s direct lethal assistance like Iran or North Korea, whether it’s assistance to their defense industrial base like China – is perpetuating the war, is fueling the conflict.  And this is a threat not only to Ukraine and to the Ukrainian people; it’s a threat to all of Europe.  I think if you ask any of our European colleagues, they see Russia posing the greatest threat to European security since the end of the Cold War.  So countries that are playing into this by supplying Russia, they are fueling a threat to Europe more broadly – not just Ukraine – and they have to take that into account, particularly in their own relationships with Europe.

FOREIGN SECRETARY LAMMY:  As you would expect, Tony and I have discussed Ukraine now since taking office nearly every other week.  We had a fruitful discussion today.  It’s hugely important – and I said in my opening that this was a critical moment – it’s hugely important that we’re traveling together to hear from our Ukrainian counterparts and President Zelenskyy their assessment of the situation on the ground and their needs on the ground.  It would, however, be quite wrong to comment on the detail of operational issues in a forum such as this, because the only person who could benefit is Putin, and we will do nothing to give him any advantage in his illegal invasion.

On the transfer of ballistic missiles from Iran, this is a troubling pattern that we’re seeing from Iran.  It is definitely a significant escalation, and we are coordinating actions, and we’ll have more to say on that very shortly.

MODERATOR:  Thank you.  Patrick Wintour, The Guardian.

QUESTION:  Thank you very much.  Secretary of State, the Israeli Defense Minister Gallant this week warned that Israel had reached a strategic junction in its war with Hamas where it must choose between the risk of a broader escalation and a hostage deal with Hamas.  Do you agree with that assessment?

And secondly, is it not really the case that these ceasefire talks are at a deadlock?  And could you, in any way, give any assurances to Benjamin Netanyahu about the Philadelphi Corridor and the – that there’s no need for Israeli forces to be there, Israel’s security will be preserved?

And Foreign Secretary, you were in the UAE last week.  The UAE is one of the few countries that has said it’s willing to put troops into Gaza as a peacekeeping force.  Would you welcome that, and would you like to see other Arab states make the same offer?

SECRETARY BLINKEN:  On the ceasefire, here’s what I can tell you:  More than 90 percent of the issues have been agreed, decided.  So we’re down to a handful of issues – not even a handful of issues – that are hard but fully resolvable, in our judgment.  And as we’ve said before, when you get down to the last 10 percent, the last 10 meters, those are, almost by definition, the hardest ground to cover.  But we believe that these are fully resolvable.

Right now, we’re working intensely with our Egyptian and Qatari counterparts to work together to bridge any remaining gaps.  And in the coming time, very soon, we’ll put that before the parties and we’ll see what they say.

I think what is evident, though, is the strong interest that everyone in the region has in being able to get the ceasefire concluded.  It’s clearly in Israel’s interest.  It’s in its interest to get hostages home.  It’s in its interest to turn down the temperature in Gaza.  It’s in its interest to have possible off-ramps in the north with Hizballah and Lebanon that a ceasefire in Gaza would make more possible.  It’s in its interest to also further enable us to calm the situation in the Red Sea with the Houthis.  And it’s in its interest because it opens other prospects that could fundamentally alter Israel’s security for the long term, including the prospect of normalization of relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel.

We saw back on April 13th, when Israel was attacked directly by Iran for the first time, something unprecedented, and that was other countries coming to its active defense.  And this showed, in embryonic form, what the future could be – a future in which Israel is integrated into the region, in which it enjoys normal relations with other countries, something it’s sought from day one of its existence, and which is protected against the aggression coming from Iran or its proxies, and in which Iran and those proxies are isolated.  That’s very much possible in the future.

But it requires resolving Gaza, ending the conflict there.  It requires, as David said, a credible pathway for the Palestinians to a state of their own.  And these are very hard issues, but that future is very powerful and very positive.  The alternative is a perpetuation of conflict, a perpetuation of insecurity, and multiple fronts at the same time – not only in Gaza, but we see what’s happening in the West Bank and growing insecurity there.  We see what’s happening in the north and the possibility of conflict with Hizballah, an even broader conflict with Iran.  From day one, our purpose has been not only to make sure that Israel can effectively ensure that October 7th never happens again but also that the conflict doesn’t spread, and we’re intent on that.  But the longer all of this goes on, the greater the risk of just that happening.

So I think for Israel, for – clearly for the Palestinian people, and especially Palestinians in Gaza, who desperately need this conflict to be over so that they can get the help that they need and begin to rebuild their lives, for every country in the region, the interest is clear.  I can’t speak to what’s in the mind of Mr. Sinwar and where his interests lie.  He will have to make those judgments for himself.  But we remain resolute in working to bring the ceasefire over the line, because it would open up so many more positive prospects.  And let’s see where we are in the coming days.

FOREIGN SECRETARY LAMMY:  Could I just say, Patrick, that Tony’s assessment that 90 percent of the deal is there is completely correct.  And in the end, what you need are partners for peace, and that is now in the hands of Bibi Netanyahu and Sinwar to get us over the line and to take that deal that is on the table, and we’ve now been talking about that deal for weeks.

It was important to go to the UAE, as it’s important to speak to Arab partners across the region.  And the focus of your question is on the day after, and clearly it’s on the security guarantees that are important for Israel to have, and Arab partners – and certainly the UAE – are showing some forward leaning in their commitment to securing that.

But what I think is absolutely essential – and they all say this – is that there has to be a pathway to two states.  That has to be present, or they cannot give that commitment.  And then there’s also discussion of both the security in Gaza and the administration.  And clearly we have to see a reformed and renewed Palestinian Authority, and there can be no role for Hamas going forward.

So we’re very focused on the day after.  But let’s remember that when we talk about the deal, it is a phase deal.  Let us get over the line to get to that first phase, and let us see that pathway to security on both sides.

MODERATOR:  Shaun Tandon from AFP.

QUESTION:  Thank you, Mr. Secretary, Mr. Foreign Secretary.  Secretary Blinken, could I ask you about a couple of aspects on the Middle East?  The Israel Defense Forces just a moment ago released an investigation, or released a preliminary – some preliminary findings to the death of an American citizen, Ms. Aysenur Eygi.  Could you say – they said that she was killed most likely by Israeli fire, but unintentionally.  Are you confident of that assessment?  Does the United States want to see anything further?  Are you confident with the assessment that this was unintentional, and what more do you want Israel to do?  Could there be repercussions?

For both of you, could I ask you about the International Criminal Court?  The – it seems that in the coming days there could be a formal decision on whether to seek an arrest warrant for Prime Minister Netanyahu, among others.  Mr. Foreign Secretary, the Labor government, of course, has taken a slightly different stance from your predecessors, from the Conservatives, on this.  Could you say what your position is, whether you support going ahead?  And is there unity between the two allies on this?  Thank you.

SECRETARY BLINKEN:  Shaun, thank you very much.  With regard to the tragic killing of Aysenur, I think what we saw of this investigation is it seems to show what eyewitnesses have said and made clear: that her killing was both unprovoked and unjustified.  No one – no one – should be shot and killed for attending a protest.  No one should have to put their life at risk just for freely expressing their views.

In our judgment, Israeli security forces need to make some fundamental changes in the way that they operate in the West Bank, including changes to their rules of engagement.  We’ve long seen reports of the security forces looking the other way when extremist settlers use violence against Palestinians.  We’ve seen reports of excessive force by Israeli security forces against Palestinians.  And now we have the second American citizen killed at the hands of Israeli security forces.  It’s not acceptable.  It has to change.  And we’ll be making that clear to the senior-most members of the Israeli Government.

Now, we’re looking carefully at the results of this investigation, but even on an initial read and even accepting it at face value, it’s clear that there are serious issues that need to be dealt with.  And we will insist that they be dealt with.

FOREIGN SECRETARY LAMMY:  I think the important thing to stress in great democracies such as ours is our belief in the separation of powers.  There is an important forum for lawyers and the judiciary and our courts, and then there is also an important forum for politicians and those who represent the people.

We’ve always been clear in the UK in our belief in the international rule of law, the rules-based order, and in IHL issues which are fundamentally important.  And we took a decision last week in relation to arms exports that were quasi-legal on the basis of our law as they stand.  We believe in international law, we believe in the Statute of Rome, but these must be decisions for the international courts to determine.  I don’t want to comment on the assessment that they will reach.  I’m qualified as a lawyer in part because of the great Harvard Law School.  But I’m going to leave it to the lawyers to determine these very complex matters.

SECRETARY BLINKEN:  Thank you.

FOREIGN SECRETARY LAMMY:  Thanks a lot.