SECRETARY BLINKEN: Well, good afternoon, everybody. Bonjour, tout le monde.
Foreign Minister Joly, Mélanie, as always, I'm delighted to welcome you back to the State Department, to the United States, and it is a great pleasure to continue our ongoing collaboration on so many issues that join our countries together.
As is fitting for such a close friend and ally, the discussion we had today touched on an incredibly wide range of critically important issues that are having a real impact on the lives of our citizens, Canadians and Americans alike, as well as people across the globe.
We, of course, discussed our united response to President Putin's war on Ukraine, including his latest shameless effort to legitimize his attempted land grab in Ukraine. No one is fooled by what Moscow has done. The world saw the way Russia conducted these so-called referenda, with Russian occupation forces going door to door and forcing Ukrainian citizens to cast their ballots at gunpoint. The entire process around these sham referenda was a complete farce.
The United States does not, and will never, recognize any of the Kremlin's claims to sovereignty over parts of Ukraine that it's seized by force and now purports to incorporate into Russia. As I said last week at the United Nations Security Council, this territory is and will remain Ukrainian, and Ukraine has every right to defend its land, to defend its people, and to take back the territory that Russia has seized from it.
Canada and the United States, like so many nations around the world, see eye to eye on this: these are just the latest in a long line of actions by Russia since it launched its war of aggression against Ukraine that violate international law, that flout the principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity which underpin the entire international order so necessary to keeping peace and security around the world. And all of this shows the Kremlin's utter contempt for the rights and the will of the Ukrainian people.
I also made clear that when Russia made this move, the United States and our allies and partners would impose swift and severe costs on individuals and entities - inside and outside of Russia - that provide political or economic support to illegal attempts to change the status of Ukrainian territory. Today we have done just that, in coordination with the European Union, and Canada is taking similar steps as well.
We're also issuing a clear warning, supported by G7 leaders: We will hold to account any individual, entity, or country that provides political or economic support for President Putin's illegal attempts to change the status of Ukrainian territory. In support of this commitment, the Departments of the Treasury and Commerce are releasing new guidance on heightened sanctions and export control risks for entities and individuals inside and outside of Russia that support in any way the Kremlin's sham referenda, purported annexation, and occupation of parts of Ukraine.
We're also taking action today at the United Nations Security Council to hold Russia accountable for the sham referenda and the purported annexations. If Russia blocks the Security Council from carrying out its responsibilities, we'll ask the UN General Assembly, where every country has a vote, to make clear that it's unacceptable to redraw borders by force. Every country has a stake in condemning these steps.
As UN Secretary-General Guterres said this week, and I quote, "The [United Nations] Charter is clear. Any annexation of a State's territory by another State resulting from the threat or use of force is a violation of the Principles of the [United Nations] Charter and international law."
The United States, Canada, and our other allies and partners will continue to assist Ukraine in the fight to defend its territory against Russian aggression. With new security assistance that we announced just this week, the United States has now committed approximately $16.9 billion in security assistance to Ukraine going back to January 2021.
In our meeting, the foreign minister and I discussed ways to continue supporting Ukraine and our European allies as they prepare for a difficult winter ahead. Our commitment to Ukraine's sovereignty, its independence, its territorial integrity is steadfast.
The United States and Canada will also continue to work together at the G7 to help the populations hardest hit by President Putin's war of choice, including by getting life-saving aid to the people most affected by the unprecedented global food crisis. And we'll continue to make crystal clear that we and our NATO Allies are prepared to defend every inch of NATO territory.
The United States and Canada are also standing together in responding to virtually every major global challenge that is having an effect on our people, just as we have for 150 years.
Canada is a deeply valued ally and partner across the Arctic region in the Arctic Council, where we're working together to promote sustainable economic growth while also combating the climate crisis. In the coming weeks the United States will release our Arctic Strategy to further these goals, and we look forward to continuing to work closely with Canada to make them a reality.
Like the United States, Canada is both an Atlantic and Pacific nation, and we saw that last week at the General Assembly, where Canada joined both the Partners in Blue Pacific and the Strengthening Atlantic Cooperation ministerial meetings that we held. These initiatives will further our shared goals of a prosperous, resilient, and secure ocean region in both the Atlantic and the Pacific.
We're working together to end the HIV/AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis epidemics. Here, too, we saw Canada's leadership on display at the General Assembly, with the prime minister's exceedingly generous contribution of more than $900 million to the Global Fund in its seventh replenishment.
Canada, Mexico, and the United States are partners in the USMCA, through which we're strengthening supply chains, supporting strong labor rights protections, and accelerating the clean energy transition across an increasingly integrated North America.
Since December, our countries have partnered to mobilize more than $294 million in international commitments for Haiti. We deeply appreciate Canada's leadership in launching the UN Basket Fund to improve citizen security and strengthen law enforcement in Haiti - an effort the United States is proud to support. In these extremely difficult times for the Haitian people, we're urging more partner nations to contribute to this vital cause.
We also applaud Canada's leadership in launching the Declaration Against Arbitrary Detention in State-to-State Relations. This is bringing nations together to send the clearest possible message that the arbitrary detention of foreign nationals is unacceptable, and governments that engage in this practice will face consequences.
We discussed ways to deepen what is an already remarkably vibrant commercial and trade relationship, to boost our collective competitiveness, to create good-paying jobs for people on both sides of our border. The United States and Canada are of course already each other's largest trading partners, with over ten - $2 billion, excuse me, in goods and services that pass between us every single day. But we know we can do even more together, to the benefit of our people.
One way to do that is through the Inflation Reduction Act, which provides more than $368 billion for clean energy technologies like electric vehicles and battery components that are manufactured in North America. It's the biggest, most ambitious climate investment in the history of our country; it offers a chance for us to deepen our economic integration and expand inclusive economic opportunity for our people.
Another way is through the CHIPS and Science Act, which will provide funds to develop resilient semiconductor supply chains in North America, which are crucial for so many of the goods that we rely on, from smartphones to dishwashers to cars. Our semiconductor supply chains are already deeply interconnected, with U.S.-based companies like IBM and Skyworks conducting research, development, design, and packaging in Canada.
It is hard to think of two countries that work together as closely, and across as many areas, as Canada and the United States. And it's not only because our fates and interests are so closely intertwined, but it's because we approach these challenges and opportunities from a place of shared values. More than ever, we are in this together.
So, Mélanie, as always, thank you for the visit - but, most important, thank you for your partnership, thank you for your friendship on a professional level, on a personal level. We're the closest of collaborators. It's something I deeply value and am grateful for every day. It's good to have you.
FOREIGN MINISTER JOLY: Thank you. Thank you, Tony. Merci, Tony. It's really a pleasure for me to be here for my second visit to the State Department. But before we start, I would like also to say a few words as Canadians are observing the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.
(Via interpreter) On this day, we honor the children who never returned home, the survivors, their families, and their communities.
(In English) The path of reconciliation is long and painful. It is one we must choose to walk with indigenous people every day.
(Via interpreter) Dear Tony, as I say every time I come here with you, it's wonderful to - I would like to host you in Canada soon, I hope.
(In English) Canada and the United States, and Secretary Blinken mentioned, share a special, unique relationship. Of course, our two countries are bound by geography and history. We are friends, allies, trading partners because we know we are stronger together when, obviously, we're standing together. We invest in each other's successes. We have fought side by side on numerous battlefields because our way of life, our democratic values, were threatened.
Vladimir Putin will stop at nothing to consolidate his power and assert his dominance. The vote to integrate Ukraine's territories into the Russian Federation is a crude attempt to formalize President Putin's conquest through political theater. As Canada and NATO Allies have said, the pre-orchestrated outcomes of these referenda have no legitimacy and will never be recognized. Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia will remain Ukrainian territory.
Canada has imposed sanctions today on 43 new oligarchs, the so-called governing body in Kherson, and 35 Russian-backed officials in Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia.
(Via interpreter) So today, Canada will impose new sanctions to 43 oligarchs, to the so-called leaders of Kherson, 35 senior officials of Russia in Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia.
(In English) Courageous women across Iran are currently in the streets protesting the tragic killing of Mahsa Amini. Canada salutes them and we want to say to everybody that we stand with them in saying that women's rights are human rights.
(Via interpreter) The Iranian regime has a long record of systematic violations of the rights of the population, and they continue to persecute the people.
(In English) This regime has also shown a blatant disregard for human life with Flight PS752. Canada will sanction the so-called morality police and its leadership, and Canada will hold Iran accountable for its crime.
As we fight for human rights, Secretary Blinken and I also discussed our effort to strengthen international peace and security, including through deepened engagement in the Indo-Pacific. We share a vision of a free, open, and inclusive Indo-Pacific region. We both believe in strengthening our diplomatic and economic ties with the region and the resiliency of our global supply chains. And the Secretary just mentioned about particularly the CHIPS legislation here and the initiative, and obviously we want to make sure that as the United States go forward, we also provide our great expertise and - in terms of critical minerals, in terms of extraction but also manufacturing.
Canada is pleased to continue the work as a full member of the partnership of the Blue Pacific. Alongside Secretary Blinken, we were together at the UN General Assembly, on the margins of the UN General Assembly, to talk about this very new initiative.
Now, several weeks ago, President Biden spoke to Americans at the Independence Hall in Philadelphia, saying that democracy and equality are under assault, and that Americans are in a battle for their soul - for the soul of their nation. I know these words resonate deeply with Canadians. Canada is not immune to the same threats to our democracy, to rampant disinformation on social media, to feelings of distress towards our institutions. However, our resolve in the face of these challenges has never been stronger. We will remain resolute in our defense of democracy, and we will remain united - united in our vision for a more free and democratic world, united in our pursuit of a more just and equal society, and united in our determination to preserve our institutions for future generations.
(Via interpreter) Because by remaining united, there is no limit to what our two nations could accomplish together.
MODERATOR: Thank you. We'll take our first question from Shaun Tandon with the AFP.
QUESTION: Hi. Hi there.
SECRETARY BLINKEN: Hi, Shaun.
QUESTION: Thank you. To begin with, Mr. Secretary, just on behalf of the press corps, condolences on the loss of your father. I wanted to share that with you - wanted to offer condolences on behalf of the State Department Correspondents Association.
SECRETARY BLINKEN: Thank you. Thank you very much.
QUESTION: Thanks. Could I follow up on a couple of items today on Ukraine and Russia? To both of you: President Putin, he mentioned today, he said that the West was to blame for what happened on Nord Stream. I know the United States has already rejected that. Do you have any assessment of what actually happened? Could this be a violation of a - could this invoke Article 5 for NATO? And what does this say about security of the Baltics? Is there a need to up the security there?
And President Zelenskyy, in response to - in response to what happened today, called for fast-track membership into NATO. Do you have any opinion on that? Do you think that all countries should be - in NATO should be on board with that?
And if I could just follow up on one thing the foreign minister mentioned. You mentioned democracy. Brazil has elections coming on Sunday. I wonder if the two of you had any conversations about how to approach that, when to recognize the results, if there are any concerns about preserving the stability of democracy in the Western Hemisphere's second-most-populous country. Thanks very much.
SECRETARY BLINKEN: (In French.)
FOREIGN MINISTER JOLY: (In French.)
SECRETARY BLINKEN: Shaun, thank you. First, on the pipelines, we've been in very close contact with our partners in Europe - notably with Denmark and Sweden. We are supporting the investigation into these attacks on the pipelines and working to be able to determine who is responsible. But I don't want to get ahead of those investigations; that work is ongoing. I think everyone by now is well aware of something that Mélanie alluded to more broadly, but specific to Russia, which is the outrageous misinformation and disinformation campaigns that it engages in. So I really have nothing to say to the absurd allegation from President Putin that we or other partners or allies are somehow responsible for this, but we will get to the bottom of what happened, and we'll share that information as soon as we're - as soon as we have it. But I don't want to get ahead of the investigation that's ongoing.
With regard to NATO and Ukraine, our position is and remains clear, and the same as it's been. We strongly support NATO's open door. We strongly support bringing into NATO countries that seek to join and that can add to NATO's capabilities. There's a process for doing that, and countries will continue to follow that process.
And then when it comes to Brazil and the elections, we're obviously not going to get into another country's elections. I can just say generally speaking that Brazil has very strong democratic institutions, including very strong electoral institutions that they've demonstrated time and time again, and we expect that that will be the case in the upcoming election this weekend.
FOREIGN MINISTER JOLY: To add to that, obviously we support NATO's and the EU's declaration regarding the sabotage of the pipelines. We think that it is a very important European infrastructure. That is why I also had the opportunity to talk to my Danish and Swedish counterpart and obviously we spoke about it as well.
Regarding the referenda themselves, well, you heard what I said regarding this being Putin's political theater, but quite frankly, no one is buying it. So we're reaching out with many countries of the world to make sure, as the UN secretary-general mentioned, that it is clear that this is against international law and that we stand strong against that violation.
Regarding NATO - so the Ukraine's accession to NATO - our position has not changed. It has been the same, which is essentially we believe in NATO's "Open Door" policy, and we've always been in favor of Ukraine acceding to NATO.
And finally regarding Brazil, obviously my comments are the same as the Secretary in the sense that we will not meddle into Brazil's elections, but what I can say, though, is Tony and I will be heading to the OAS next week. We'll be in Peru and therefore we look forward to engaging with - we hope - our future counterparts, if that's the case. And we will obviously be having strong discussions regarding the future of democracy within our hemisphere.
