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U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken Holds Press Conference; Russian Forces Seize Ukrainian Nuclear Power Plant. Aired 2-2:30p ET

Aired March 04, 2022 - 14:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[14:00:16]

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN HOST: Hello, everyone. I'm Alisyn Camerota. Welcome to CNN NEWSROOM.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN HOST: I'm Victor Blackwell.

Officials are now warning of more imminent danger in Ukraine after a terrifying situation overnight. The U.S. says that Russian troops are just 20 miles away from Ukraine's second largest nuclear facility now. That's after taking over the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant today. That one is the largest in all of Europe.

Now, Russian shelling set parts of the complex on fire, and although Ukrainian authorities say radiation levels appear normal, the company that runs the plant says the management is working at gunpoint. And the U.S. ambassador to the U.N. says that she's so concerned because the workers are now doing their jobs under extreme duress.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LINDA THOMAS-GREENFIELD, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO THE UNITED NATIONS: By the grace of God, the world narrowly averted a nuclear catastrophe last night.

Mr. Putin must stop this madness. And he must stop it now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: NATO also confirmed today that Russia has dropped cluster bombs. Those are banned under the Geneva Convention and condemned by the international community because they create a huge risk of civilian casualties.

New video from the outskirts of Kyiv shows more civilian buildings being attacked. Here's the town of Chaika. That's a business center you're looking at, one of many destroyed by a Russian attack.

CNN's Anderson Cooper is live in Lviv.

Anderson, we have seen schools and government buildings, shops, this industrial complex as well. The Russians say they're not targeting civilians, but there at least is this extreme disregard for civilian areas.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST: That's absolutely right.

And I think it goes beyond just disregard. I mean, certainly, there -- part of the Russian playbook is to break the back of resistance in Ukraine, and to do that by using overwhelming force in civilian areas, in residential areas.

CNN national security correspondent Alex Marquardt joins us now live from the Kyiv region.

Alex, I mean, the images now coming out of just the last 20 -- last 12 or 24 hours, it is just getting worse on the ground in terms of the kinds of attacks we're seeing, and repeatedly in residential areas.

ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Anderson, it's getting hard to keep up. And it's becoming extraordinarily clear that any claim by the Russians that they are avoiding civilian areas or not targeting civilian infrastructure or residences is just not true.

And the death toll is climbing significantly by the day. You know, what it reminds me of is what the Russians did in Syria. I have been in Aleppo and saw what the Russians did in terms of just extreme destruction all across that city. And the scenes that we're seeing now are resembling that and what Russia has done before and in places like Chechnya.

I'm thinking specifically about an area just Northwest of Kyiv called Borodyanka. And we have got just extraordinary video from there, again, residential area, residential buildings, big blocks of apartment buildings, that have been torn apart by Russian bombardment.

(CROSSTALK)

COOPER: Alex, I apologize. I have to interrupt you.

We're going to come back to you, Alex. Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby is giving an update. Let's listen.

(JOINED IN PROGRESS)

JOHN KIRBY, PENTAGON PRESS SECRETARY: Alaskan command under North Northern -- U.S. Northern Command is currently hosting Exercise Arctic Edge 22 in Alaska held every two years.

This exercise consists of approximately 1,000 U.S. military personnel, and they're made up of units from the Army, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard and Special Operations Command. Also included are elements from the Royal Canadian Navy, the Royal Canadian Air Force, and the Canadian Army.

The goal of the exercise is to provide realistic and effective training for participants using the premier training locations that are available throughout Alaska. Arctic Edge 22 is linked to other service-specific exercises, including the National Guard's Arctic Eagle-Patriot, the Army's Joint Pacific Multinational Readiness Capability exercise, and the Navy's ICEX.

And those occur concurrently or consecutively during the months of February and March of this year.

With that, we will take questions.

Lita.

QUESTION: John, can you give us a little bit more detail on the sort of hot line, deconfliction line, whatever you want to call it with Russia?

Do you know if it has been used at all? Was it used specifically during the attack on the nuclear facility, when one might think there might be some cause for concern? And is it -- would it be General Wolters who would be sort of in charge on the other end of the phone? Can you give us a sense of who -- what this link is?

[14:05:07]

And then just...

KIRBY: You want the phone number too?

QUESTION: Yes, if you could actually put the phone here, it would be good.

And then just any anything new on Odessa?

KIRBY: On the deconfliction line, I don't have any information about whether it's been used. It's only been in place for a couple of days, I think, since early this week.

It is basically a phone line, a phone connection to the Russian Ministry of Defense. It is being administered out of European Command headquarters. And as I understand it, it's basically staffed by staff level officers there at European Command. I have no expectation that, unless he really desires, that General Wolters would be the one managing that. It is not at that level.

It is at a lower operational level. And it is being administered as a bilateral U.S.-to-Russia deconfliction channel. So, it's -- that's why it is being handled out of U.S. European Command headquarters and not General Wolters, under his NATO head.

But, again, I would refer you to EUCOM to talk specifically about the whether and how it has been put in place. We know it works, because we did establish it and set it up with the Russians. And when we tested it, they did pick up the other end and acknowledge that they got the call. So we know it works.

We think, again, that this is -- as we have done before, like in Syria, we think it is valuable to have a direct communication vehicle at that level, at an operational level, to reduce the risks of miscalculation and to be able to communicate in real time if need be, particularly because now that the airspace over Ukraine is contested by both Russian and Ukrainian aircraft.

So, that contested airspace now buttresses right up against NATO. So, smart thing to do, and we're glad it is in place. We're glad the Russians have acknowledged that they will use it.

On Odessa, I don't have...

COOPER: we want to take you live now to Brussels, where Secretary of State Antony Blinken is speaking.

(JOINED IN PROGRESS)

ANTONY BLINKEN, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: That's why, from day one, President Biden made reinvigorating and reenergizing our alliances and partnerships, the foundation of our foreign policy.

It's why, as secretary of state, I have come to Brussels, home to NATO and the E.U., more than to any other world capital. And that's why we invested so much effort in finding new ways and coalitions to bring allies and partners together.

Now we're seeing why that work matters. At NATO, we were joined by the ministers of Finland and Sweden, the E.U. high representative, Josep Borrell, the foreign ministers of Ukraine, the United Kingdom and Canada, as well as the secretary-general, Stoltenberg, also took part in our meeting with the E.U.

Never before have NATO and the European Union and other partner nations worked so closely together. This is a new kind of cooperation. And we will bring this to bear not just in this crisis, but in the years to come.

And our European allies and partners are stepping up to lead in unprecedented ways. For the first time, NATO has activated and deployed parts of its Response Force. Several NATO allies, including the U.K., Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark, Spain, France, have sent troops and aircraft and ships to reinforce the alliance's eastern flank.

Every NATO ally is providing either military or humanitarian aid to Ukraine. Most are providing both. For the first time, the European Union is financing the purchase and delivery of military assistance to a country under attack. The bloc swiftly adopted the biggest sanctions package in history against Russia.

And the E.U. has granted immediate refuge to Ukrainians and others who call Ukraine home, the first time it has invoked this protection mechanism. Individual countries are also taking extraordinary steps. Germany's doubling its defense spending. Poland has opened its arms to more than half-a-million Ukrainian refugees.

Switzerland set aside its traditional neutrality to adopt the European Union sanctions on Russia. The list goes on.

These and other efforts by our European allies to deepen their own capabilities and cooperation do not undermine the transatlantic security alliance. They deepen our collective might.

As recently as a few weeks ago, some questioned whether, if the regional or international rules-based order came under threat, whether our European allies and partners would be willing to shoulder their fair share of the burden, the risk, the cost to defend it. In the last nine days, European countries have demonstrated they are more than ready to stand up and stand together.

[14:10:04]

And the United States is standing with Europe, pursuing complementary actions and policies, in close coordination with our allies and partners.

To give just a few examples, we have deployed an additional 7,000 troops to Europe and repositioned our forces already on the continent to strengthen NATO's eastern flank. We continue to tighten our severe economic sanctions on Russia.

Last night, as I think you know, we extend temporary protected status to tens of thousands of Ukrainians living in the United States. And the president has requested an additional $10 billion from Congress to deliver more humanitarian, security and economic assistance in Ukraine and the surrounding region over the coming days and weeks.

Yesterday, President Putin said his so-called special military operation is proceeding exactly as planned.

Well, it's hard to imagine that his plan included inspiring the Ukrainian people to defend their country with such tenacity, strengthening the resolve and solidarity of NATO and the E.U., uniting the world in opposition to Moscow, including 141 countries at the United Nations, an unprecedented number of international businesses, associations, cultural institutions that have cut ties with Russia, causing the Russian economy to go into freefall, motivating tens of thousands of Russians to protest and countless more to leave the country, and increasingly turning Russia into a pariah state.

If that was President Putin's plan, well, you can say it's working. Russia has never been so isolated. We have never been more united.

But let me reiterate one thing, because it's very important. We take these actions not because we oppose the Russian people. We do not. We regret that tens of millions of Russians will suffer because of the dangerous decisions made by a tiny circle of corrupt leaders and their cronies, who have consistently put their interests above those of the Russian people, who are doing everything they can to hide their war of choice from the Russian public.

Today's discussion with NATO, the E.U., the G7 affirm that we're fully aligned on our goals and our determination to meet them. We will deepen our support for Ukraine's brave defenders and for the Ukrainian civilians suffering as a result of the deepening humanitarian crisis. We will continue to raise the costs for President Putin and all who carry out and enable his war of choice and the devastation that it's causing. We will continue to strengthen our capacity to defend our collective security and deter further escalation by Russia, including by upholding our Article 5 commitment that an attack on one is an attack on all. NATO is a defensive alliance. We have never sought and will not seek conflict with Russia.

But, as President Biden has said, we will defend every inch of NATO territory. No one should doubt America's readiness or our resolve. At the same time, we will keep open the door to dialogue and diplomacy, while making clear to the Kremlin that, unless it changes course, it will continue down the road of increasing isolation and economic pain.

And we will support Ukraine and its talks with Russia to reach a cease-fire and the unconditional withdrawal of Russian forces, something that Foreign Minister Kuleba and I have been discussing on a daily basis.

In the meantime, we are working urgently with the government of Ukraine, the ICRC and others to create humanitarian corridors that will allow civilians to get out of Ukraine's besieged cities and to allow food, medicine and other vital supplies to get in. Russia's attack created this humanitarian crisis. Now all countries have a responsibility to pressure the Kremlin to alleviate at least some of the misery that it has wrought.

Of all the consequences of Moscow's unprovoked attack, one of the most unexpected is the spark it has lit in people around the world who've come out to demonstrate for freedom, for the rights of Ukrainians. That includes valiant individuals in places where protesting the Kremlin's war means risking arrest, beatings, or worse, as thousands of Russians and Belarusians have done.

For years, we have seen the dangerous tide rolling back democracy and human rights and undercutting the rules-based order, fueled in no small part by Moscow. With this brutal invasion, we, our European allies and partners and people everywhere are being reminded of just how much is at stake.

Now, we see the tide of democracy rising to the moment.

With that, I'm happy to take some questions.

NED PRICE, STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESMAN: Paul Hanley, AFP.

QUESTION: Mr. Secretary.

BLINKEN: Hey, Paul.

QUESTION: You have -- the West has put unprecedented sanctions on Russia, very punishing. Yet it doesn't seem to have slowed the Russian's military advance on Ukraine.

[14:15:03]

Today, NATO seemed to forswear absolutely putting in a no-fly zone that might protect the Ukrainians. Given that nothing seems to have slowed this invasion, what can you

tell the Ukrainian people, who only see things getting worse, seeing a disaster, seeing more suffering, and are pleading for more help from the West?

And I have a little follow-up. I could ask it now or in a moment.

BLINKEN: No, go ahead, please.

QUESTION: The West, NATO has been involved in this in terms of supplying a lot of arms, which you have mentioned, to Ukraine. Can't it supply more -- more effective arms, larger weapons? Jets have been talked about.

NATO is engaged in this. Can't it do more for Ukraine?

BLINKEN: Thank you.

Let me take the second part first. We're in constant contact with Ukraine, with government officials and leaders on their needs, and in constant contact and coordination with allies and partners on providing for those needs when it comes to security assistance.

We have already been engaged in a remarkable effort, just speaking for the United States, with the various drawdowns that President Biden has done. We have provided over the past year and change more than a billion dollars in security assistance to Ukraine. The most recent drawdown that was issued by the president of $350 million, we have already sent into Ukraine about $250 million worth of that -- of that drawdown.

So this is happening every single day. And you're seeing the means that Ukraine needs to defend itself get into the hands of Ukrainians who are doing that.

Having said that, one of the things that we talked about at length today in our various meetings at NATO and the E.U. was what more we can do and how to do it effectively. I would add that I think, as you know, Foreign Minister Kuleba actually came into our meetings by video. We heard from him directly some of the additional things that Ukraine is looking for.

We're working on all of that every -- every single day.

We're also a week and change into this horrific war wrought by Russia. The -- we have had already a dramatic impact, far beyond I think what anyone would have expected, on Russia and its economy. The ruble is trading at its weakest levels ever. It's worth less than a penny. Russian authorities are expecting exporters to sell at least 80 percent of the foreign currency that they have to prop up what is a rapidly weakening currency.

The stock market's been closed for days, due to a fear of capital flight once it opens. This is the longest stretch of emergency closure since Russia defaulted back in the 1990s. The CBR has more than doubled their key interest rate -- that's the Central Bank -- to 20 percent, the highest in almost 20 years, capital controls, et cetera.

We're seeing -- I have a list five pages' long of all the businesses that have left Russia. But this take -- the impact is there. It's powerful. It's real. And it is building. So let's see how Russia responds to that as this really takes hold and takes a grip.

Second, as we have been demonstrating by not only what we have been -- and saying, by what we have been doing, the support for Ukraine is real, profound, extensive. The security assistance that we just talked about, that continues to go in, the humanitarian support that we continue to build in response to the humanitarian horror that Russia has wrought, as well as economic assistance.

Unfortunately, this is not like flipping a light switch. It takes time. And when you have a -- in the case of Russia, and President Putin's Russia, a country that is prepared to go to excessive means to achieve its results, it is a real challenge.

But not only are we at it every day, I think what the Ukrainian people can see is virtually the entire world united in support of them, in support of their cause of independence, territorial integrity, freedom, demonstrated by the meetings we had today, demonstrated by the 141 countries that came together at the United Nations to make that clear.

[14:20:00]

So there is a huge tide of support for Ukraine. There is a huge weight bearing down on Russia. Let's see what the impact is.

PRICE: Meabh McMahon, Euronews.

QUESTION: Hi there. Thank you so much for the floor.

My name is Meabh McMahon, Euronews.

So we heard this morning at NATO that the situation will get worse before it gets better. So tell us, what do you know that we don't? And is the no to the no-fly zone set in stone completely? Or would you consider it if this conflict does become a massacre?

And just to follow up, was it naive of you and, of course, the Europeans to trust in Putin to opt for diplomacy?

Thank you so much.

BLINKEN: When we say it is likely to get worse, it's, unfortunately, based on everything we know about President Putin's methods when it comes to seeking to subjugate another country to his will or another region to his will.

We saw it in Chechnya. We have seen it in Syria. We saw it, of course, in 2014 in Ukraine. And what we're seeing on the battlefield is Russian forces seeking to encircle the major cities, including Kyiv, and we're seeing them use increasingly brutal methods, including going at civilians and civilian populations. So I think the terrible expectation is that the suffering we have

already seen is likely to get worse before it gets better for as long as Russia pursues these methods. So that is, unfortunately, more likely than not, although we're doing everything we can to try to move us to a different track.

With regard to the no-fly zone, I think you heard NATO Secretary- General Jens Stoltenberg speak to this earlier today. One of the responsibilities we have even, as we are doing everything we can to give the Ukrainian people the means to defend themselves effectively against Russia, we also have a responsibility, as the secretary- general said, to ensure that the war doesn't spill over even beyond Ukraine.

And, again, because I think he put it so well, as he noted, the only way to actually implement something like a no-fly zone is to send NATO planes into Ukrainian airspace and to shoot down Russian planes. And that could lead to a full-fledged war in Europe. President Biden has been clear that we are not going to get into a war with Russia.

But we are going to tremendous lengths, with allies and partners, to provide Ukrainians with the means to effectively defend themselves. And, of course, we're seeing every single day their extraordinary heroism, as well as very, very real results in what they're doing to achieve that.

And I'm sorry. I missed the last part of your question.

QUESTION: Just do you feel like -- because I remember we spoke together last spring when you were here in Brussels at the NATO headquarters.

And I feel the question now is, do you feel that you were naive or the Europeans were naive to trust in Putin that he would come to table and he would choose diplomacy over this invasion?

BLINKEN: Well, I will only speak for -- I will only speak for the United States.

I think we were the opposite of naive. We have been saying, warning for months that President Putin was planning and was likely to carry out an aggression of Ukraine. And I -- and, of course, in recent weeks, before the invasion began, I laid out before the United Nations, the Security Council, exactly what we expected Putin to do, and how he would do it, creating bogus pretexts for war, and then using those false flags and other operations as justification for invading Ukraine.

And, for months, we made clear that this is what we expected.

But, at the same time, it's our obligation, my obligation, the obligation of allies and partners, to pursue diplomacy, if there is any opportunity to do so, because, as we said all along, it's far preferable than what we're seeing.

And, again, as we said all along, there are two paths that Russia can take. One is diplomacy and dialogue. The other is aggression against Ukraine. And we said we would be prepared either way. And we are.

PRICE: Nomia Iqbal, BBC.

[14:25:05]

QUESTION: Thank you, Secretary.

Are you considering energy sanctions against Russia? Because, realistically, how could the West defeat Putin in Ukraine when the West also pays Putin up to $700 million a day in oil, gas and coal?

I know the British foreign minister, Liz Truss, has talked about it, how Britain is looking into it. Are you?

BLINKEN: First, as a general proposition, nothing is off the table.

And we are evaluating every single day the sanctions, their implementation, and additional measures.

The sanctions are designed, in the first instance, of course, to have maximum impact on Russia and Putin, while minimizing harm to us and our allies and partners. There's no strategic interest in reducing the global supply of energy. The immediate effect would be to raise prices at the pump for Americans and also to pad Russian profits with rising prices.

So, we have been carving out payments for energy, trade and transport from the sanctions that we have been implementing. But we have a strong interest, we and our allies, in degrading Russia's status as a leading energy supplier over time. This would be a profound strategic shift.

That's why Nord Stream 2 was shut down. That's why we're surging LNG to Europe right now, to help accelerate its diversification away from Russian gas. It's why we're denying critical technologies to Russia for further energy exploration going forward through the export controls we have put in place.

This is part of a process to reduce reliance, dependence on Russian energy. So, that's where our focus is. But, again, as I said, we're looking at these things every single day.

QUESTION: How long will that take?

BLINKEN: Well....

QUESTION: And how many people have to die in Ukraine before...

(CROSSTALK)

BLINKEN: I'm not going to put a time frame on it.

What's happened in record time, as we have seen, are sanctions and other measures that, a few weeks ago, people would have said were never going to happen. I think we have demonstrated very, very clearly that what we said we would do many months ago, when this crisis first began to emerge back in November, December, the G7 countries, the European Union, I said that, if Russia chose the path of aggression, we would impose massive consequences on Russia, including unprecedented economic sanctions.

I know some people thought that that was more rhetoric than reality. I think we have demonstrated already how strong that reality is. And, again, we're looking every day at measures to increase the extraordinary pressure we're already exerting.

PRICE: We will take a final question from Yuri Sheko (ph), DW.

QUESTION: Thank you very much.

Secretary, I have two questions.

First is also on no-fly zone. You said that NATO will not send fighter jets to Ukraine to shoot down Russians. It is understandable. But there is another way to impose this no-fly zone. And I mean send into Ukraine air defense capabilities. Of course, the United States send Stinger missiles.

But I'm speaking about high to medium air defense capabilities to support the currently working Ukrainian defense capabilities with S- 300 and BUK, which are working also quite well.

And the second question is, you saw -- we saw more than a week of fighting and how Russian forces weren't able to achieve most of its objectives. They were bogged down. They were stopped in many places.

So, how does this week of war change the U.S. assessment of the might of Russian military that was considered to be quite high? But now -- what is your assessment now?

Thank you very much.

BLINKEN: Thank you.

First part of the question, we're looking every day at what technologies, what capacities we can effectively deliver to Ukraine to defend itself. And that's an ongoing conversation, literally happening on a daily basis, both with Ukraine and government officials, as well as among allies and partners.

And so the main focus is on making sure that anything we provide can be used, used effectively, and in a timely way. So -- but, as I said, that's quite literally something we're looking at every -- every day.

So, I don't want to draw any conclusions from the week of invasion, in terms of what this tells us about -- about Russia or its capabilities.

[14:30:00]