MS COLLINS: Secretary, so just this morning, Putin is overseeing some annual nuclear drills with Russian forces. How concerned are you that Russia could use a dirty bomb and blame it on Ukraine – blame it on Ukraine?
SECRETARY BLINKEN: We’re concerned about two things. We’re of course concerned about the rhetoric we’ve heard from Putin and from other Russian officials going back some weeks now over the possible use of a nuclear weapon. We’re watching that very carefully. We haven’t seen reason to change our own nuclear posture, but it’s something that we’re tracking very carefully, and we’ve also communicated directly and very clearly to the Russians, to President Putin, about the consequences that would flow from any use of a nuclear device.
Separate and apart from that, we’ve seen these allegations coming from the Russians that somehow the Ukrainians are looking or contemplating using a so-called dirty bomb, which is an utter fabrication and something that is also the height of irresponsibility coming from a nuclear power. In fact, the IAEA is now, at Ukraine’s invitation, in Ukraine visiting – as they’ve done in the past – the nuclear facilities that Ukraine has.
The reason this particular allegation gives us some concern is because Russia has a track record of projecting, which is to say accusing others of doing something that they themselves have done or are thinking about doing. But there, again, we’ve communicated very clearly and very directly to the Russians about trying to use this false allegation as a pretext for any kind of escalation on Russia’s behalf.
MS COLLINS: And just to hold on that for a second, what would be our response if Russia does do something like that in terms of a mirroring event?
SECRETARY BLINKEN: Well, I’m not going to get into speaking publicly to what we and others will do, other than to say that we’ve communicated that clearly and very directly to the Russians, including President Putin.
MS COLLINS: So staying on Ukraine for a minute, a little longer, on terms of more broadly, we’re heading into the midterm elections. We are hearing some concerns grow louder about support for Ukraine, the cost of it. What assurances are you giving to Ukraine and our allies that we are going to stay supportive for the months ahead?
SECRETARY BLINKEN: What we’ve seen to date is a remarkable bipartisan consensus and bipartisan support for Ukraine, for putting pressure on Russia to cease its aggression, for taking the steps necessary at NATO to shore up our own defensive alliance. I visited Ukraine, I visited neighboring countries with bipartisan delegations from Congress from both the House and the Senate, and that consensus – that strong core – I think remains strong and will remain so going forward.
It’s vitally important because it’s in the national interest. Yes, of course, there’s deep concern about the horrific destruction that’s been done to Ukraine, the brutalization of the Ukrainian people, and that, I think, touches Americans across the board, irrespective of whether they’re Republicans or Democrats, members of Congress or citizens. But we also know that this is an aggression against the very principles that are at the heart of the international system necessary for keeping peace and security, principles that grew out of the experience of two world wars and a conviction that we have to find ways to make sure that those couldn’t be repeated. And so there was an agreement that you can’t simply go in and seize territory from another country, that you can’t change the borders of another country by force, that you can’t try to erase its independence and sovereignty from the map. And if we allow that to go unchecked, if we allow that to proceed with impunity, it opens a Pandora’s box around the world for would-be aggressors. That’s going to create conflict, and we know…
Read More: Secretary Antony J. Blinken With Peggy Collins of Bloomberg News