In Difficult Times Good People gravitate towards Absolute Truth
Press Briefing by Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre and NSC Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby
Press Release:
James S. Brady Press Briefing Room • August 4 • 3:20 P.M. EDT
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Good afternoon.
Q Good afternoon.
Q Good afternoon.
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Oh, it's so good. Love it.
I just want to say a few words about the verdict - the Brittney Griner verdict.
So, today's sentencing is a reminder of what the world already knew: Russia is wrongfully detaining Brittney. She never should have had to endure a trial in the first place.
We have repeatedly called for Russia to release her immediately so she can be with her wife, loved ones, friends, and teammates.
Under President Biden's direction, the U.S. government continues to work aggressively, pursuing every avenue to bring home Brittney, Paul Whelan, and every American held hostage and wrongfully detained around the world.
As you all know, we have made a substantial offer to bring her and Paul Whelan home. We urge Russia to accept that proposal.
I'm not able to share more publicly at this time, but we are willing to take every step necessary to bring home our people, as we demonstrated with Trevor Reed. And that's what we're going to do here.
I can assure you this is something the President and our national security team are focused on every single day.
The President receives regular updates about the status of our negotiations to secure Brittney's release, as well as the release of Paul Whelan and other U.S. nationals who are wrongfully detained or held hostage in Russia and around the world.
So we will continue our - we will continue to focus on getting our U.S. nationals home.
So, additionally, as you have - you might seen - you have might seen, the People's Republic of China launched 11 ballistic missiles towards Taiwan.
To speak on this and other foreign policy news of the day, National Security Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby is here to join with - join me today. And he'll take over and take your questions.
Go ahead.
MR. KIRBY. Thank you, Karine. Good afternoon.
As Karine alluded and I'm sure all of you have covered, overnight, the People's Republic of China launched an estimated 11 ballistic missiles towards Taiwan, which impacted to the northeast, the east, and southeast of the island.
We condemn these actions, which are irresponsible and at odds with our longstanding goal of maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and in the region.
China has chosen to overreact and use the Speaker's visit as a pretext to increase provocative military activity in and around the Taiwan Strait.
We anticipated that China might take steps like this. In fact, I described them for you in quite some detail just the other day - Monday. We also expect that these actions will continue and that the Chinese will continue to react in coming days.
The United States is prepared for what Beijing chooses to do. We will not seek, nor do we want, a crisis. At the same time, we will not be deterred from operating in the seas and the skies of the Western Pacific, consistent with international law, as we have for decades, supporting Taiwan and defending a free and open Indo-Pacific.
To that end, Secretary Austin today has directed that the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan and the ships in her strike group will remain on station in the general area to monitor the situation.
We will conduct standard air and maritime transits through the Taiwan Strait in the next few weeks, consistent, again, with our longstanding approach to defending freedom of the seas and international law.
And we will take further steps to demonstrate our commitment to the security of our allies in the region, and that includes Japan.
Beijing's actions are of concern to Taiwan, to us, to partners around the world. You probably saw the G7, yesterday, rejected Beijing's attempt to coerce and intimidate Taiwan, which is a leading democracy.
The nations of ASEAN also released a statement overnight about the importance of de-escalating tensions in the Taiwan Strait. And today, the Japanese government reported that five PRC missiles landed in their Exclusive Economic Zone, noting their grave concern - another example of how China's actions are undermining peace and security in the region.
Now, we're going to continue to communicla- - communicate closely with our partners around the world, which we have demonstrated over and over again is a strength of this administration.
Beijing's provocative actions are a significant escalation in its longstanding attempt to change the status quo. As just one example, over the past two years the PRC has more than doubled the number of aircraft that they have flown over the center line that separates China and Taiwan as compared to the fir- - to the time period between 2016-2020. And Beijing has pursued economic coercion, political interference, and cyberattacks against Taiwan, all of which erode the cross-Strait status quo.
The United States will be resolute but also steady and responsible. We do not believe it is in our interest, Taiwan's interest, the region's interest to allow tensions to escalate further, which is why a long-planned Minuteman III ICBM test scheduled for this week has been rescheduled for the near future.
As China engages in destabilizing military exercises around Taiwan, the United States is demonstrating instead the behavior of a responsible nuclear power by reducing the risks of miscalculation and misperception.
We will continue to demonstrate transparency in our U.S. ballistic missile tests through timely notifications. That's a practice that China has often rejected. Rescheduling this test will not in any way - not in any way - impact the modernization, the readiness, or the reliability of America's safe, secure, and effective nuclear deterrent. And the test will happen. It will be rescheduled for the near future.
I want to reiterate, as I've been saying all week: Nothing - nothing - has changed about our One China policy, which is guided by the Taiwan Relations Act, the Three Joint U.S.-PRC Communiqués, and the Six Assurances. And we say it that way every time because it's exactly consistent.
Now, we said that we oppose any unilateral changes to the status quo from either side. We've also said we do not support Taiwan independence and that we expect cross-Strait differences to be resolved by peaceful means. We're also maintaining communication with Beijing.
As President Biden told President Xi, the Speaker's visit was consistent with our One China policy, that she had a right to visit, and that a previous Speaker of the House has also visited Taiwan before without incident.
This is how we're going to defend America's national security interests and our values. And that is how President Biden directed us to operate in the days ahead - with consistency and clarity and transparency.
And we'll keep doing that - what we are doing - and we're going to keep supporting cross-Strait peace and stability, because it matters - not just in the Strait, not just to Taiwan, but to the entire region.
With that, I'll take some questions.
Q Thanks, John. A couple questions about Brittney Griner's sentence. First off, why do you believe the Russian judge chose a nine-year sentence for what appears to be a very minor infraction?
MR. KIRBY: I certainly can't get inside the head of a Russian judge. What we - we have seen similar maximal - maximum sentences for drug charges of foreigners in Russia.
They typically - it's just, historically speaking, foreigners that are arrested on drug charges and then convicted under their system tend to get much higher sentences than would be Russian citizens.
But I honestly can't speak to it. I will tell you that, as Karine rightly said, she shouldn't even been on trial. She's wrongfully detained. Absent that, we find the sentence reprehensible in its - in its scope.
Q You know, you've - some details of the U.S. prisoner swap offer have obviously been public. Do you think the Russians would ever accept a prisoner swap that wasn't one-for-one or two-for-two - two of our prisoners for two of theirs?
MR. KIRBY: That's a better question for the Russians. What I can tell you is that we put forth a serious proposal. And I know everybody is making some assumptions here about what that proposal is; I won't go into detail about it. But it's a serious proposal. We urge them to accept it. They should have accepted it weeks ago when we first made it.
Q Why did you make the details of that offer - or the fact that you made an offer -
MR. KIRBY: Yeah.
Q - public? Doesn't that encourage Russia or, really -
MR. KIRBY: Yeah.
Q - any bad actor to take more Americans prisoner, thinking the Americans are going to be willing to deal?
MR. KIRBY: Yeah, Tyler asked me that same question, I guess, a week or so ago. We didn't make it public - we didn't make the decision to make it public lightly. I mean, it's not the kind of thing that you typically do.
But what was happening in her case a week ago, what wasn't happening in our negotiations a week ago, and in the context of her having to testify in her own defense at a sham trial - all of that played into our decision to at least make public the fact that there was a proposal.
It was an - it was an earnest attempt to see if we could get to some outcomes here. And we're still going to - we're still going to keep making those attempts.
Q Thank you so much. You had called a counteroffer by Russia "unserious," which involved their offer that the U.S. release a convicted Russian national, who's being held -
MR. KIRBY: That's right.
Q - in Germany, convicted of murder. Is it still an unserious offer? Are you giving it another look in light of the sentence?
MR. KIRBY: Nothing's changed about our position on that - on that topic. I mean, I - I don't think we'd go so far as to even call it a counteroffer.
Q Okay. President Biden said today in response, "My administration will continue to work tirelessly and pursue every possible avenue to bring Brittney and Paul Whelan home safely as soon as possible." Does - is that a suggestion that he's willing to go even further? Is there more that the U.S. can do to pressure Russia to accept this offer?
MR. KIRBY: I think Karine covered it really well in her opening statement. I mean, the President is laser-focused on this and he - he and the whole team are working this literally every day. And just like I won't get into the details of the proposal that we've put forward, I don't think it would be helpful to Brittney or to Paul for us to talk more publicly about - about where we are in the talks and what the President might or might not be willing to do.
I just want to, again, reiterate what Karine said: He wants to see Brittney and Paul home, and he's personally involved in seeing - to making sure that that outcome happens.
Q And very quickly, has the President spoken to Brittney Griner's family? And does he plan to do so?
MR. KIRBY: I don't have any recent in - like in terms of like the last couple of days, I don't have any conver- -
Q Not in the wake of the sentencing, or -
MR. KIRBY: Not in the wake of the sentencing.
Q Okay.
MR. KIRBY: Not - no.
Q And just very quickly on China. Given what - China's actions that you talked about at the top, does the administration believe it was a mistake for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to visit Taiwan?
MR. KIRBY: We have said - we have said consistently that the Speaker had a right to go.
Q But now there's been action from China.
MR. KIRBY: As Speaker of the House and a member of Congress, she - she had a right to go. And I know we're all focused on the stop in Taiwan and I - and, certainly, given the events of the last 12, 18 hours, understandably so - but she's not just going to Taiwan.
I mean, she's - she's moved on now to visits in Japan and South Korea - two treaty allies. Japan, in particular, deeply concerned about what's going on. We'll let the Speaker talk about her travels and what she's learned, what she's heard, what her takeaways are. I won't - I won't talk for her.
Members of Congress have every right to travel overseas, and that includes Taiwan. And they have bo- - both - from both parties have just this year. And she's - yes, she's the Speaker of the House, but she's also a member of Congress. She has the right to go. And our job was to make sure that she had a safe and secure visit; we did that. We're still in touch with her staff. We're still responsible for making sure the rest of her trip is safe and secure. We'll let her talk about it when she gets back.
Q Thank you.
Q Thanks, John. On Griner, I know you said you can't get into too many details here, but can you say if there are non-prisoner concessions on the table at all that you would be willing to consider?
MR. KIRBY: I'm not going to get into any more detail.
Q Okay. And then on China, is the President considering another call with President Xi at all, given these escalating tensions?
MR. KIRBY: I don't have any call on the schedule to talk to or to announce.
Q Is that being considered at all?
MR. KIRBY: I'm not going to get ahead of the President's schedule. As I said in my opening statement, the lines of communication with China are still open at different levels, of course, but I won't get ahead of the President's schedule.
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Just going to jump around. Go ahead, Patsy.
Q Thank you so much, John. So you've explained what the U.S. is trying to do in terms of sending out military - the USS Reagan to the region to ensure, I assume -
MR. KIRBY: She was already in the region. Yeah. But -
Q Understood. Okay. So that - I assume that's also part of keeping shipping routes and - open and safe. I understand that the Taiwanese president is also saying that she's in contact with U.S. allies to ensure that airports and seaports remain open. Is that also part of the - what the administration is trying to do here?
And the other thing is, just to touch on the kinds of communications that you're having with the Chinese government: Do you believe that, at this point, there is a diplomatic off- ramp for this crisis?
MR. KIRBY: Well, we certainly would like to see the tensions deescalate. And if that's best done through diplomacy, the United States would fully support that. We want to see the tensions come down.
I would submit to you that they can come down very easily by just having the Chinese stop these - these very aggressive military drills and flying missiles in and around the Taiwan Strait. You don't need diplomacy to just simply stop doing something that's - that's escalating the tensions and putting peace and security in the region at risk.
Look, the Ronald Reagan and her escort ships are a very capable strike group. They're there to monitor the situation. They'll - they'll be there for a little bit longer than they were originally planned to be - to be there.
Again, I won't get ahead of the ship's schedule, but the President believed that - that it was the prudent thing to do: to leave her and her escort ships there just a little bit longer.
Q Can we just - just to follow up, is there any kind of support that the U.S. is providing to Taiwan in terms of protecting it in the context of cybersecurity attacks? I think that's also something that the Taiwanese are concerned about.
MR. KIRBY: Yeah, look, I - I - for lots of good reasons, we don't talk about steps we take either unilaterally or bilaterally in cyberspace.
We are committed, as we have been now for decades, to Taiwan's self-defense. I'll leave it at that.
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Go ahead.
Q Can you give us a sense of what Griner's sentencing may mean for negotiations? Her Russian lawyer had said that a deal wouldn't be possible until after she was convicted and sentenced. So now that that's happened, is it more likely, you think, that we may see them willing to negotiate? Essentially, does a conviction open new doors for negotiation?
MR. KIRBY: That's really up to the Russian side. We're still - we're still open to having our proposal seriously and positively considered. And if on the Russian side that means that they feel like they're more empowered to do that, then so be it.
We want them to take the offer that's on the table because it's a good one, it's a fair one, and it'll help bring Paul and Brittney home. And if - if this is what's going to - it's going to take to get them to - to "yes," then, okay, let's get to "yes"; let's get them home.
Q And it has been now almost a week since Secretary Blinken and Lavrov spoke over the phone. Have you gotten any serious signs from Russia that they're willing to negotiate? Is there any glimmer of progress since then, in the last week?
MR. KIRBY: I'm not going to negotiate in public. Conversations are ongoing at various levels, and I'll just leave it at that.
Q And just to follow up on Nancy's question, what message do you think the Russians are trying to send to the U.S. by giving Brittney Griner so severe a sentence?
MR. KIRBY: Again, I can't speak for the Russian judge. And - and your question presupposes that it's a message-sending exercise. Maybe it is; maybe it's not. As I said the -
Q You think it's possible it's not?
MR. KIRBY: Historically - historically, what we've seen is foreign-born citizens that are arrested and convicted of drug charges tend to get - just historically, anecdotally speaking - tend to get higher sentences, almost to the max, which in many cases is 10 years, in Russia, as opposed to Russian-born citizens of the country convicted of the same offense. It's just - it tends to be the case there.
So I - honestly, I just - I wish I could get inside the judge's head; I can't do it. So I can't define why he chose nine years. As I said to Nancy, it's a reprehensible sentence. She shouldn't have been on the - on trial to begin with. But that - and that, again, that's why we - I think that's why you saw the President come out so strongly against this - this sham trial to begin with.
Q But to be clear: You - do you think she's being used as a political pawn here?
MR. KIRBY: We think that Brittney and Paul Whelan are being wrongfully detained. They're being wrongfully detained. They need to - to be let go. They need to come home. We're going to keep working on that.
I - I cannot ascribe Russian motives or intent here. I just - I just - it wouldn't be appropriate for me to try to speculate what's in their heads.
All I can do is tell you where President Biden is and the national security team: wrongfully detained, need to come home. There's a deal on the table. Let's make the deal. Let's get them home.
Q In the way back?
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: All right, Pete. I'll come back (inaudible), then Peter, and then - and then I'll come back.
Q Thank you. Thanks, John. Why is it that, over the last couple of months, President Biden has been so much tougher on Russia than he is on China?
MR. KIRBY: I wouldn't agree with the premise of the question, Peter.
Q Well, I think just - when Russia was getting aggressive around Ukraine, the President was out every couple of days telling Putin, "Don't do it." And now China is getting aggressive around Taiwan, and we're not hearing anything like that from the President.
MR. KIRBY: Oh, beg to differ. We've been standing up here for almost a week, Peter, talking about our concerns about what China was preparing to do. We put out declassified information that we saw what the Chinese playbook was going to be.
Look, I stood at another podium not long ago, and much of the same way we reacted then we're reacting now, in terms of being honest and transparent about what's going on and calling it out for what it is.
And then, today, we're talking about exactly what we're going to do to make sure we can help preserve a free and open Indo-Pacific.
So I'm - I'm afraid I just challenge the premise of your question.
Q I know you said that there is not a call scheduled with Xi. Is there a reason why? Because President Biden has known him for decades.
MR. KIRBY: Yeah.
Q He's got a lot of free time up there in the Residence this week.
MR. KIRBY: He doesn't have free time. He - he's -
Q Is there a reason he can't just pick up the phone and call?
MR. KIRBY: He's been working all the way through his illness, quite frankly, Peter. So that's a little bit insulting.
And as for a call -
Q It's not insulting to -
MR. KIRBY: It is. It is.
Q - say that the - that someone who is isolating by themselves -
MR. KIRBY: You suggested he has a lot of free time, as if he's not doing anything. And you know that's not the case, Mr. Doocy.
Now, look, as for a call with President Xi, I don't have anything on the President's schedule to speak to.
If ever the President felt like a call with President Xi was the appropriate way to respond or that it would - that it would have an effect and an outcome that he wants to achieve, he certainly would be willing to do that. He's talked to Xi now five times; it's not like he's afraid to pick up the phone and call President Xi. And if there's a - if a call is the right answer, I'm sure that President Biden will do that. But I'm not going to get ahead of the President on this.
I do want to stress - I said it before, but I do think that your question begs me to say it again: The lines of communication are still open with Beijing, and we're using those lines of communication. And I think you'll see that in days to come as well. That's really important.
And that's one of the reasons why President Biden made that call a week or so ago, was to make sure - and you saw it in Karine's readout - to make sure that those lines of communication stay open, and they are.
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Go ahead, Jeremy. And then I'll come to the back.
Q Thanks. John, you said a few moments ago that the President has been personally involved in Brittney Griner's case. Can you talk about what that has involved beyond getting daily updates on her situation, and whether or not the President would be willing to speak directly with President Putin to negotiate her release and the release of Paul Whelan?
MR. KIRBY: When I say "personally involved," I mean he's - he's in constant touch with all the members of his team that are working on Brittney's case. And it's not just Secretary of State Blinken, but Jake Sullivan; the Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs; the Deputy Homeland Security Advisor, Josh Geltzer.
I mean, there's a lot of people involved in here, and he's driving a process of continual updates that he can get from his team. He's offering guidance to them as needed. You've seen that he has talked to Mrs. Griner herself.
And certainly would expect that he's going to continue to have those kinds of conversations going forward. He's staying focused on this.
Q And as for speaking with President Putin directly on this?
MR. KIRBY: Oh, I'm sorry. I - again, I don't have - similar to President Xi, I don't have any calls to announce or speak to with President Putin.
The President is comfortable that the proposal that we put forward is a serious one. And he urges the Russians to accept that proposal so we can get Brittney and Paul home.
Q And then, you talked about the decision to make public that you had made an offer to the Russians. And you suggested that part of that was perhaps to put some pressure on the Russians because they hadn't been really all that responsive. Do you feel like making that offer public has changed anything, has changed the status quo? Have you achieved desired outcome of that - of that decision?
MR. KIRBY: Well, she's - she's not home, neither is Paul. So, can we say that making it public had a direct line to bringing them home? Not yet, but we hope it will. We hope it will.
Q It's going to move the ball.
MR. KIRBY: We felt - we felt it was important to make sure the American people knew, but as well as people around the world, how seriously we're taking these two cases, and that - so seriously, in fact, that we had made a proposal that we believe the Russians ought to accept.
And you'll notice that the day after we did that, the Russians started talking - even publicly. So I'll leave it at that.
Q And then on a separate issue: CNN reported today that the Department of Homeland Security is going to stop wiping mobile devices of high-level officials and political appointees without backing them up first, and is launching a 30-day review of policies. Is the White House directing any other agencies to take similar steps, including the Department of Defense, for example?
MR. KIRBY: I'm not aware of any other instructions to other agencies.
Q And then just lastly on Russia, more broadly: Can you speak at all to this newly declassified intelligence that Russia is preparing to plant fabricated evidence as it relates to this attack on the -
MR. KIRBY: Yeah, I can actually.
Q - on the prison? Yeah.
MR. KIRBY: So I can share, based on downgraded intelligence, that we expect that Russian officials are planning to falsify evidence in order to attribute the attack on the Olenvika [sic] prison - Olenivka - sorry - prison on the 29th of July. They're going to try to attribute that attack to the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
We anticipate that Russian officials will try to frame the Ukrainian Armed Forces in anticipation of journalists and potential investigators visiting the site of the attack. In fact, we've already seen some spurious press reports to this effect, where they have planted evidence.
And we have reason to believe that the - that Russia would go so far as to make it appear that Ukrainian HIMARS - the High Mobility Advanced [Artillery] Rocket Systems - that have been in so much in the news lately - were to blame. And to do that before journalists arrived on site.
And again, we're beginning to even start to see some press reporting to that effect.
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Okay, way in the back, in the blue. Way in the back.
Q It's me?
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: You.
Q Yes, thanks.
MR. KIRBY: (Inaudible) in the blue jeans.
Q John - yes - when you say that the U.S. is prepared - when you say that the U.S. is prepared to what - for what China will do, do you mean that you are prepared to engage militarily?
MR. KIRBY: I'm saying we are prepared for what China may do. And I think it probably wouldn't be a good idea to go into a great level of detail on that.
Let me say that when I say we're prepared for what China may do, it's across all the tools of government power. It's not just about the military.
We have a robust military capability in the region. We have strong alliances and partnerships in the region. We also have economic throw-weight, right? And we have diplomatic throw-weight. There's a lot of things that the United States can - can bring to bear if we feel like we need to.
But here's the thing: We shouldn't need to do it. And it shouldn't come to blows. There's no reason for this manufactured crisis to exist. They're - the Chinese have used Speaker Pelosi's trip as a pretext. Yes, they're claiming it's a protest. I got it. But it's also a pretext to try to up the ante in tensions and to actually try to set a new status quo to get to a new normal where they think they can keep things at.
And my point in coming out here today was to make it clear that we're not going to accept a new status quo and that it's not just the United States, but the world will reject it as well.
Q After that last call between President Biden and Xi, there were indications that a meeting between - between the two presidents may take place. There's - there was any room for that. Given the current situation, do you think there's a room for a meeting between the two presidents?
MR. KIRBY: Nobody is ruling out the possibility for a meeting between the two presidents.
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Phil, then Ed.
Q There's reporting that the Biden administration is lobbying against legislation that would designate Taiwan as a Major Non-NATO Ally. Can you tell us if that's accurate?
And as we move towards what President Biden has often described as an era of autocracy versus democracy, should we be strengthening ties with Taiwan by entering into such a designation?
MR. KIRBY: I think we're - with respect to this proposed legislation, I think we're going to avoid too much comment right now.
We certainly appreciate and respect the role of Congress and, frankly, the support across the aisle this year and so many years in the past for support to Taiwan. But I don't think it behooves us to try to get ahead of some proposed legislation before it moves - it moves further on down the - down the ways.
Go Back
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Good afternoon.
Q Good afternoon.
Q Good afternoon.
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Oh, it's so good. Love it.
I just want to say a few words about the verdict - the Brittney Griner verdict.
So, today's sentencing is a reminder of what the world already knew: Russia is wrongfully detaining Brittney. She never should have had to endure a trial in the first place.
We have repeatedly called for Russia to release her immediately so she can be with her wife, loved ones, friends, and teammates.
Under President Biden's direction, the U.S. government continues to work aggressively, pursuing every avenue to bring home Brittney, Paul Whelan, and every American held hostage and wrongfully detained around the world.
As you all know, we have made a substantial offer to bring her and Paul Whelan home. We urge Russia to accept that proposal.
I'm not able to share more publicly at this time, but we are willing to take every step necessary to bring home our people, as we demonstrated with Trevor Reed. And that's what we're going to do here.
I can assure you this is something the President and our national security team are focused on every single day.
The President receives regular updates about the status of our negotiations to secure Brittney's release, as well as the release of Paul Whelan and other U.S. nationals who are wrongfully detained or held hostage in Russia and around the world.
So we will continue our - we will continue to focus on getting our U.S. nationals home.
So, additionally, as you have - you might seen - you have might seen, the People's Republic of China launched 11 ballistic missiles towards Taiwan.
To speak on this and other foreign policy news of the day, National Security Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby is here to join with - join me today. And he'll take over and take your questions.
Go ahead.
MR. KIRBY. Thank you, Karine. Good afternoon.
As Karine alluded and I'm sure all of you have covered, overnight, the People's Republic of China launched an estimated 11 ballistic missiles towards Taiwan, which impacted to the northeast, the east, and southeast of the island.
We condemn these actions, which are irresponsible and at odds with our longstanding goal of maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and in the region.
China has chosen to overreact and use the Speaker's visit as a pretext to increase provocative military activity in and around the Taiwan Strait.
We anticipated that China might take steps like this. In fact, I described them for you in quite some detail just the other day - Monday. We also expect that these actions will continue and that the Chinese will continue to react in coming days.
The United States is prepared for what Beijing chooses to do. We will not seek, nor do we want, a crisis. At the same time, we will not be deterred from operating in the seas and the skies of the Western Pacific, consistent with international law, as we have for decades, supporting Taiwan and defending a free and open Indo-Pacific.
To that end, Secretary Austin today has directed that the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan and the ships in her strike group will remain on station in the general area to monitor the situation.
We will conduct standard air and maritime transits through the Taiwan Strait in the next few weeks, consistent, again, with our longstanding approach to defending freedom of the seas and international law.
And we will take further steps to demonstrate our commitment to the security of our allies in the region, and that includes Japan.
Beijing's actions are of concern to Taiwan, to us, to partners around the world. You probably saw the G7, yesterday, rejected Beijing's attempt to coerce and intimidate Taiwan, which is a leading democracy.
The nations of ASEAN also released a statement overnight about the importance of de-escalating tensions in the Taiwan Strait. And today, the Japanese government reported that five PRC missiles landed in their Exclusive Economic Zone, noting their grave concern - another example of how China's actions are undermining peace and security in the region.
Now, we're going to continue to communicla- - communicate closely with our partners around the world, which we have demonstrated over and over again is a strength of this administration.
Beijing's provocative actions are a significant escalation in its longstanding attempt to change the status quo. As just one example, over the past two years the PRC has more than doubled the number of aircraft that they have flown over the center line that separates China and Taiwan as compared to the fir- - to the time period between 2016-2020. And Beijing has pursued economic coercion, political interference, and cyberattacks against Taiwan, all of which erode the cross-Strait status quo.
The United States will be resolute but also steady and responsible. We do not believe it is in our interest, Taiwan's interest, the region's interest to allow tensions to escalate further, which is why a long-planned Minuteman III ICBM test scheduled for this week has been rescheduled for the near future.
As China engages in destabilizing military exercises around Taiwan, the United States is demonstrating instead the behavior of a responsible nuclear power by reducing the risks of miscalculation and misperception.
We will continue to demonstrate transparency in our U.S. ballistic missile tests through timely notifications. That's a practice that China has often rejected. Rescheduling this test will not in any way - not in any way - impact the modernization, the readiness, or the reliability of America's safe, secure, and effective nuclear deterrent. And the test will happen. It will be rescheduled for the near future.
I want to reiterate, as I've been saying all week: Nothing - nothing - has changed about our One China policy, which is guided by the Taiwan Relations Act, the Three Joint U.S.-PRC Communiqués, and the Six Assurances. And we say it that way every time because it's exactly consistent.
Now, we said that we oppose any unilateral changes to the status quo from either side. We've also said we do not support Taiwan independence and that we expect cross-Strait differences to be resolved by peaceful means. We're also maintaining communication with Beijing.
As President Biden told President Xi, the Speaker's visit was consistent with our One China policy, that she had a right to visit, and that a previous Speaker of the House has also visited Taiwan before without incident.
This is how we're going to defend America's national security interests and our values. And that is how President Biden directed us to operate in the days ahead - with consistency and clarity and transparency.
And we'll keep doing that - what we are doing - and we're going to keep supporting cross-Strait peace and stability, because it matters - not just in the Strait, not just to Taiwan, but to the entire region.
With that, I'll take some questions.
Q Thanks, John. A couple questions about Brittney Griner's sentence. First off, why do you believe the Russian judge chose a nine-year sentence for what appears to be a very minor infraction?
MR. KIRBY: I certainly can't get inside the head of a Russian judge. What we - we have seen similar maximal - maximum sentences for drug charges of foreigners in Russia.
They typically - it's just, historically speaking, foreigners that are arrested on drug charges and then convicted under their system tend to get much higher sentences than would be Russian citizens.
But I honestly can't speak to it. I will tell you that, as Karine rightly said, she shouldn't even been on trial. She's wrongfully detained. Absent that, we find the sentence reprehensible in its - in its scope.
Q You know, you've - some details of the U.S. prisoner swap offer have obviously been public. Do you think the Russians would ever accept a prisoner swap that wasn't one-for-one or two-for-two - two of our prisoners for two of theirs?
MR. KIRBY: That's a better question for the Russians. What I can tell you is that we put forth a serious proposal. And I know everybody is making some assumptions here about what that proposal is; I won't go into detail about it. But it's a serious proposal. We urge them to accept it. They should have accepted it weeks ago when we first made it.
Q Why did you make the details of that offer - or the fact that you made an offer -
MR. KIRBY: Yeah.
Q - public? Doesn't that encourage Russia or, really -
MR. KIRBY: Yeah.
Q - any bad actor to take more Americans prisoner, thinking the Americans are going to be willing to deal?
MR. KIRBY: Yeah, Tyler asked me that same question, I guess, a week or so ago. We didn't make it public - we didn't make the decision to make it public lightly. I mean, it's not the kind of thing that you typically do.
But what was happening in her case a week ago, what wasn't happening in our negotiations a week ago, and in the context of her having to testify in her own defense at a sham trial - all of that played into our decision to at least make public the fact that there was a proposal.
It was an - it was an earnest attempt to see if we could get to some outcomes here. And we're still going to - we're still going to keep making those attempts.
Q Thank you so much. You had called a counteroffer by Russia "unserious," which involved their offer that the U.S. release a convicted Russian national, who's being held -
MR. KIRBY: That's right.
Q - in Germany, convicted of murder. Is it still an unserious offer? Are you giving it another look in light of the sentence?
MR. KIRBY: Nothing's changed about our position on that - on that topic. I mean, I - I don't think we'd go so far as to even call it a counteroffer.
Q Okay. President Biden said today in response, "My administration will continue to work tirelessly and pursue every possible avenue to bring Brittney and Paul Whelan home safely as soon as possible." Does - is that a suggestion that he's willing to go even further? Is there more that the U.S. can do to pressure Russia to accept this offer?
MR. KIRBY: I think Karine covered it really well in her opening statement. I mean, the President is laser-focused on this and he - he and the whole team are working this literally every day. And just like I won't get into the details of the proposal that we've put forward, I don't think it would be helpful to Brittney or to Paul for us to talk more publicly about - about where we are in the talks and what the President might or might not be willing to do.
I just want to, again, reiterate what Karine said: He wants to see Brittney and Paul home, and he's personally involved in seeing - to making sure that that outcome happens.
Q And very quickly, has the President spoken to Brittney Griner's family? And does he plan to do so?
MR. KIRBY: I don't have any recent in - like in terms of like the last couple of days, I don't have any conver- -
Q Not in the wake of the sentencing, or -
MR. KIRBY: Not in the wake of the sentencing.
Q Okay.
MR. KIRBY: Not - no.
Q And just very quickly on China. Given what - China's actions that you talked about at the top, does the administration believe it was a mistake for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to visit Taiwan?
MR. KIRBY: We have said - we have said consistently that the Speaker had a right to go.
Q But now there's been action from China.
MR. KIRBY: As Speaker of the House and a member of Congress, she - she had a right to go. And I know we're all focused on the stop in Taiwan and I - and, certainly, given the events of the last 12, 18 hours, understandably so - but she's not just going to Taiwan.
I mean, she's - she's moved on now to visits in Japan and South Korea - two treaty allies. Japan, in particular, deeply concerned about what's going on. We'll let the Speaker talk about her travels and what she's learned, what she's heard, what her takeaways are. I won't - I won't talk for her.
Members of Congress have every right to travel overseas, and that includes Taiwan. And they have bo- - both - from both parties have just this year. And she's - yes, she's the Speaker of the House, but she's also a member of Congress. She has the right to go. And our job was to make sure that she had a safe and secure visit; we did that. We're still in touch with her staff. We're still responsible for making sure the rest of her trip is safe and secure. We'll let her talk about it when she gets back.
Q Thank you.
Q Thanks, John. On Griner, I know you said you can't get into too many details here, but can you say if there are non-prisoner concessions on the table at all that you would be willing to consider?
MR. KIRBY: I'm not going to get into any more detail.
Q Okay. And then on China, is the President considering another call with President Xi at all, given these escalating tensions?
MR. KIRBY: I don't have any call on the schedule to talk to or to announce.
Q Is that being considered at all?
MR. KIRBY: I'm not going to get ahead of the President's schedule. As I said in my opening statement, the lines of communication with China are still open at different levels, of course, but I won't get ahead of the President's schedule.
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Just going to jump around. Go ahead, Patsy.
Q Thank you so much, John. So you've explained what the U.S. is trying to do in terms of sending out military - the USS Reagan to the region to ensure, I assume -
MR. KIRBY: She was already in the region. Yeah. But -
Q Understood. Okay. So that - I assume that's also part of keeping shipping routes and - open and safe. I understand that the Taiwanese president is also saying that she's in contact with U.S. allies to ensure that airports and seaports remain open. Is that also part of the - what the administration is trying to do here?
And the other thing is, just to touch on the kinds of communications that you're having with the Chinese government: Do you believe that, at this point, there is a diplomatic off- ramp for this crisis?
MR. KIRBY: Well, we certainly would like to see the tensions deescalate. And if that's best done through diplomacy, the United States would fully support that. We want to see the tensions come down.
I would submit to you that they can come down very easily by just having the Chinese stop these - these very aggressive military drills and flying missiles in and around the Taiwan Strait. You don't need diplomacy to just simply stop doing something that's - that's escalating the tensions and putting peace and security in the region at risk.
Look, the Ronald Reagan and her escort ships are a very capable strike group. They're there to monitor the situation. They'll - they'll be there for a little bit longer than they were originally planned to be - to be there.
Again, I won't get ahead of the ship's schedule, but the President believed that - that it was the prudent thing to do: to leave her and her escort ships there just a little bit longer.
Q Can we just - just to follow up, is there any kind of support that the U.S. is providing to Taiwan in terms of protecting it in the context of cybersecurity attacks? I think that's also something that the Taiwanese are concerned about.
MR. KIRBY: Yeah, look, I - I - for lots of good reasons, we don't talk about steps we take either unilaterally or bilaterally in cyberspace.
We are committed, as we have been now for decades, to Taiwan's self-defense. I'll leave it at that.
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Go ahead.
Q Can you give us a sense of what Griner's sentencing may mean for negotiations? Her Russian lawyer had said that a deal wouldn't be possible until after she was convicted and sentenced. So now that that's happened, is it more likely, you think, that we may see them willing to negotiate? Essentially, does a conviction open new doors for negotiation?
MR. KIRBY: That's really up to the Russian side. We're still - we're still open to having our proposal seriously and positively considered. And if on the Russian side that means that they feel like they're more empowered to do that, then so be it.
We want them to take the offer that's on the table because it's a good one, it's a fair one, and it'll help bring Paul and Brittney home. And if - if this is what's going to - it's going to take to get them to - to "yes," then, okay, let's get to "yes"; let's get them home.
Q And it has been now almost a week since Secretary Blinken and Lavrov spoke over the phone. Have you gotten any serious signs from Russia that they're willing to negotiate? Is there any glimmer of progress since then, in the last week?
MR. KIRBY: I'm not going to negotiate in public. Conversations are ongoing at various levels, and I'll just leave it at that.
Q And just to follow up on Nancy's question, what message do you think the Russians are trying to send to the U.S. by giving Brittney Griner so severe a sentence?
MR. KIRBY: Again, I can't speak for the Russian judge. And - and your question presupposes that it's a message-sending exercise. Maybe it is; maybe it's not. As I said the -
Q You think it's possible it's not?
MR. KIRBY: Historically - historically, what we've seen is foreign-born citizens that are arrested and convicted of drug charges tend to get - just historically, anecdotally speaking - tend to get higher sentences, almost to the max, which in many cases is 10 years, in Russia, as opposed to Russian-born citizens of the country convicted of the same offense. It's just - it tends to be the case there.
So I - honestly, I just - I wish I could get inside the judge's head; I can't do it. So I can't define why he chose nine years. As I said to Nancy, it's a reprehensible sentence. She shouldn't have been on the - on trial to begin with. But that - and that, again, that's why we - I think that's why you saw the President come out so strongly against this - this sham trial to begin with.
Q But to be clear: You - do you think she's being used as a political pawn here?
MR. KIRBY: We think that Brittney and Paul Whelan are being wrongfully detained. They're being wrongfully detained. They need to - to be let go. They need to come home. We're going to keep working on that.
I - I cannot ascribe Russian motives or intent here. I just - I just - it wouldn't be appropriate for me to try to speculate what's in their heads.
All I can do is tell you where President Biden is and the national security team: wrongfully detained, need to come home. There's a deal on the table. Let's make the deal. Let's get them home.
Q In the way back?
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: All right, Pete. I'll come back (inaudible), then Peter, and then - and then I'll come back.
Q Thank you. Thanks, John. Why is it that, over the last couple of months, President Biden has been so much tougher on Russia than he is on China?
MR. KIRBY: I wouldn't agree with the premise of the question, Peter.
Q Well, I think just - when Russia was getting aggressive around Ukraine, the President was out every couple of days telling Putin, "Don't do it." And now China is getting aggressive around Taiwan, and we're not hearing anything like that from the President.
MR. KIRBY: Oh, beg to differ. We've been standing up here for almost a week, Peter, talking about our concerns about what China was preparing to do. We put out declassified information that we saw what the Chinese playbook was going to be.
Look, I stood at another podium not long ago, and much of the same way we reacted then we're reacting now, in terms of being honest and transparent about what's going on and calling it out for what it is.
And then, today, we're talking about exactly what we're going to do to make sure we can help preserve a free and open Indo-Pacific.
So I'm - I'm afraid I just challenge the premise of your question.
Q I know you said that there is not a call scheduled with Xi. Is there a reason why? Because President Biden has known him for decades.
MR. KIRBY: Yeah.
Q He's got a lot of free time up there in the Residence this week.
MR. KIRBY: He doesn't have free time. He - he's -
Q Is there a reason he can't just pick up the phone and call?
MR. KIRBY: He's been working all the way through his illness, quite frankly, Peter. So that's a little bit insulting.
And as for a call -
Q It's not insulting to -
MR. KIRBY: It is. It is.
Q - say that the - that someone who is isolating by themselves -
MR. KIRBY: You suggested he has a lot of free time, as if he's not doing anything. And you know that's not the case, Mr. Doocy.
Now, look, as for a call with President Xi, I don't have anything on the President's schedule to speak to.
If ever the President felt like a call with President Xi was the appropriate way to respond or that it would - that it would have an effect and an outcome that he wants to achieve, he certainly would be willing to do that. He's talked to Xi now five times; it's not like he's afraid to pick up the phone and call President Xi. And if there's a - if a call is the right answer, I'm sure that President Biden will do that. But I'm not going to get ahead of the President on this.
I do want to stress - I said it before, but I do think that your question begs me to say it again: The lines of communication are still open with Beijing, and we're using those lines of communication. And I think you'll see that in days to come as well. That's really important.
And that's one of the reasons why President Biden made that call a week or so ago, was to make sure - and you saw it in Karine's readout - to make sure that those lines of communication stay open, and they are.
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Go ahead, Jeremy. And then I'll come to the back.
Q Thanks. John, you said a few moments ago that the President has been personally involved in Brittney Griner's case. Can you talk about what that has involved beyond getting daily updates on her situation, and whether or not the President would be willing to speak directly with President Putin to negotiate her release and the release of Paul Whelan?
MR. KIRBY: When I say "personally involved," I mean he's - he's in constant touch with all the members of his team that are working on Brittney's case. And it's not just Secretary of State Blinken, but Jake Sullivan; the Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs; the Deputy Homeland Security Advisor, Josh Geltzer.
I mean, there's a lot of people involved in here, and he's driving a process of continual updates that he can get from his team. He's offering guidance to them as needed. You've seen that he has talked to Mrs. Griner herself.
And certainly would expect that he's going to continue to have those kinds of conversations going forward. He's staying focused on this.
Q And as for speaking with President Putin directly on this?
MR. KIRBY: Oh, I'm sorry. I - again, I don't have - similar to President Xi, I don't have any calls to announce or speak to with President Putin.
The President is comfortable that the proposal that we put forward is a serious one. And he urges the Russians to accept that proposal so we can get Brittney and Paul home.
Q And then, you talked about the decision to make public that you had made an offer to the Russians. And you suggested that part of that was perhaps to put some pressure on the Russians because they hadn't been really all that responsive. Do you feel like making that offer public has changed anything, has changed the status quo? Have you achieved desired outcome of that - of that decision?
MR. KIRBY: Well, she's - she's not home, neither is Paul. So, can we say that making it public had a direct line to bringing them home? Not yet, but we hope it will. We hope it will.
Q It's going to move the ball.
MR. KIRBY: We felt - we felt it was important to make sure the American people knew, but as well as people around the world, how seriously we're taking these two cases, and that - so seriously, in fact, that we had made a proposal that we believe the Russians ought to accept.
And you'll notice that the day after we did that, the Russians started talking - even publicly. So I'll leave it at that.
Q And then on a separate issue: CNN reported today that the Department of Homeland Security is going to stop wiping mobile devices of high-level officials and political appointees without backing them up first, and is launching a 30-day review of policies. Is the White House directing any other agencies to take similar steps, including the Department of Defense, for example?
MR. KIRBY: I'm not aware of any other instructions to other agencies.
Q And then just lastly on Russia, more broadly: Can you speak at all to this newly declassified intelligence that Russia is preparing to plant fabricated evidence as it relates to this attack on the -
MR. KIRBY: Yeah, I can actually.
Q - on the prison? Yeah.
MR. KIRBY: So I can share, based on downgraded intelligence, that we expect that Russian officials are planning to falsify evidence in order to attribute the attack on the Olenvika [sic] prison - Olenivka - sorry - prison on the 29th of July. They're going to try to attribute that attack to the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
We anticipate that Russian officials will try to frame the Ukrainian Armed Forces in anticipation of journalists and potential investigators visiting the site of the attack. In fact, we've already seen some spurious press reports to this effect, where they have planted evidence.
And we have reason to believe that the - that Russia would go so far as to make it appear that Ukrainian HIMARS - the High Mobility Advanced [Artillery] Rocket Systems - that have been in so much in the news lately - were to blame. And to do that before journalists arrived on site.
And again, we're beginning to even start to see some press reporting to that effect.
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Okay, way in the back, in the blue. Way in the back.
Q It's me?
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: You.
Q Yes, thanks.
MR. KIRBY: (Inaudible) in the blue jeans.
Q John - yes - when you say that the U.S. is prepared - when you say that the U.S. is prepared to what - for what China will do, do you mean that you are prepared to engage militarily?
MR. KIRBY: I'm saying we are prepared for what China may do. And I think it probably wouldn't be a good idea to go into a great level of detail on that.
Let me say that when I say we're prepared for what China may do, it's across all the tools of government power. It's not just about the military.
We have a robust military capability in the region. We have strong alliances and partnerships in the region. We also have economic throw-weight, right? And we have diplomatic throw-weight. There's a lot of things that the United States can - can bring to bear if we feel like we need to.
But here's the thing: We shouldn't need to do it. And it shouldn't come to blows. There's no reason for this manufactured crisis to exist. They're - the Chinese have used Speaker Pelosi's trip as a pretext. Yes, they're claiming it's a protest. I got it. But it's also a pretext to try to up the ante in tensions and to actually try to set a new status quo to get to a new normal where they think they can keep things at.
And my point in coming out here today was to make it clear that we're not going to accept a new status quo and that it's not just the United States, but the world will reject it as well.
Q After that last call between President Biden and Xi, there were indications that a meeting between - between the two presidents may take place. There's - there was any room for that. Given the current situation, do you think there's a room for a meeting between the two presidents?
MR. KIRBY: Nobody is ruling out the possibility for a meeting between the two presidents.
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Phil, then Ed.
Q There's reporting that the Biden administration is lobbying against legislation that would designate Taiwan as a Major Non-NATO Ally. Can you tell us if that's accurate?
And as we move towards what President Biden has often described as an era of autocracy versus democracy, should we be strengthening ties with Taiwan by entering into such a designation?
MR. KIRBY: I think we're - with respect to this proposed legislation, I think we're going to avoid too much comment right now.
We certainly appreciate and respect the role of Congress and, frankly, the support across the aisle this year and so many years in the past for support to Taiwan. But I don't think it behooves us to try to get ahead of some proposed legislation before it moves - it moves further on down the - down the ways.
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