Press Briefing by Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre and National Security Communications Advisor John Kirby

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Q I got two questions. First of all, administration officials told us on Sunday that they had help from India, China, and Iraq. Can you just detail, you know, some — give us some of the details on that? And does that represent a move forward in U.S.-China relations, that you were able to cooperate on (inaudible)?

MR. KIRBY: Yeah, as I said earlier, I think I’ll let other countries speak to their participation and cooperation and the degree that the — that they’re comfortable doing that. I can only speak for the United States and what we did.

Q Does this represent a step forward for the U.S.-China —

MR. KIRBY: I think it — what it — I think what it says is — without getting into the specific contributions of other countries, as I said in my opening statement, it shows that Israel is not standing alone, that — I mean, that, unlike Iran, which is increasingly isolated on the world stage, Israel has friends. Israel has great skill, great professionalism, great military capability. And that’s not by accident. All of that comes from the support that they get, particularly from the United States, but other countries as well.

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Q Thanks, Karine. John, just a couple of follow-ups. The coalition to put together limiting Iran’s development of nuclear weapons, is that still solid in the face of what’s going on?

MR. KIRBY: As the President has said, we’d love nothing better than to be able to solve Iranian nuclear progress — nuclear weapons progress through diplomacy. Unfortunately, that’s not an option right now because the — the Iranians, well before any of this, just weren’t negotiating in good faith. None of the diplomatic efforts were — were paying off.

And so, that effort kind of fell moribund as we look for other ways to increase pressure on Iran.

The President has also said that while he would prefer to deal with this threat diplomatically, he also will make sure that he’s got options and choices available to him —

Q But —

MR. KIRBY: — to ensure that Iran never achieves a nuclear weapons capability.

Q But the countries that were backing that coalition — still a member? They’re all — China, Russia —

MR. KIRBY: I mean, you’re talking about a process that’s just moribund right now, Brian.

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Q Thank you, Karine. Earlier this month, did President Biden tell Xi Jinping to stop supporting Russia’s assault on Ukraine?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Look, I’m not going to get into diplomatic conversations. We had a readout of that call that he had about 10 days ago with President Xi. It was an important call. It talked — it was a continuation of their summit that they had in San Francisco a couple of months ago. And so, I’m just not going to get ahead of or go into details about private conversation. I think the President and we have been very clear.

Q Okay. So, the U.S. has announced some sanctions and an executive order to address the support that China has given Russia in those months between the summit and now but also said we are prepared to take further steps. So, is the administration going to do more to deter Beijing?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: So, look, you know, the President certainly is — is — he’s going to underscore — he’s going to continue to underscore the concerns — right? — that he has to China, while also reiterating our readiness to conduct diplo- — diplomacy with North Korea — right? That’s a part of this too — in our determination to take steps to deter further provocations by the DPRK, obviously.

And also, you know — so, we’re always going to be very clear about that. You spoke about the executive action. I’m just going to be super careful about what — what was said between the two leaders. We did a readout, and we’ve been always very clear — always very clear to speak — to speak very directly about our concerns and underscore our concerns to China.

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Source: The White House

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