WASHINGTON – Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Sunday that he was “deeply concerned by the violent crackdown” against Russian protesters and the arrests of thousands across the country demanding the release of imprisoned opposition leader Alexei Navalny.
The Russian Foreign Ministry claimed on Twitter that the US was behind the protests, claiming a “gross intervention in Russian affairs,” but the demonstrations show that Russians are fed up with “corruption” and “autocracy,” Blinken said. NBC News in its first television. interview since he took office last week.
“The Russian government is making a big mistake when it thinks it is about us,” he said. ‘It’s about them. It’s about the government. It’s about the frustration that the Russian people have with corruption, with autocracy, and I think they should look inward, not outward. ‘
Navalny was arrested on January 17 on his return to Moscow after recovering in Germany from what the US and other Western governments say was a chemical attack by Vladimir Putin’s government. The Navalny organization has sent letters to Blinken and the White House asking the US to sanction Putin’s financiers to pressure Putin to release Navalny, who will appear in court on Monday.
Blinken said he is assessing a response to Navalny’s situation, along with other actions by the Russian government, including interference in the 2020 elections, the Solar Winds hack and allegations that premiums have been paid to US forces in Afghanistan. Former President Donald Trump has not pressured Putin on these issues. President Joe Biden did so on their first phone call last week.
Blinken would not commit to specific sanctions, but he said, “The president couldn’t have been more clear in his conversation with President Putin.”
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Regarding China, Blinken said that even while World Health Organization inspectors are on site in Wuhan, Beijing is “far behind” when it comes to granting experts access to the sites where the coronavirus was discovered.
He called China’s lack of transparency a “profound problem” that needs to be addressed.
While millions of people struggle in a U.S. economy badly hit by the pandemic, Blinken said the Biden administration would look to see if the U.S. tariffs imposed by Trump on Chinese imports were doing more damage to the U.S. than their target.
American farmers suffered huge losses after China retaliated by engaging in US exports, especially agricultural products.
He also criticized China’s actions in Hong Kong, where he said China had acted “blatantly” to undermine its obligations to the semi-autonomous island. Under an all-encompassing national security law criminalizing secession and subversion, pro-democracy protesters have been swept up in waves of arrests.
Blinken said the US should open its doors to those fleeing the crackdown, as Britain, which controlled Hong Kong until 1999, has said it will.
“We see people again in Hong Kong standing up for their own rights, the rights they thought were guaranteed,” Blinken said. “If they are the victims of repression by the Chinese authorities, we must do something to give them a place of refuge.”
He said the US will grow stronger in its confrontation with China by re-engaging in global affairs and with international institutions, “because if we withdraw, China will come in.”
“The challenge China is posing is about some of our own weaknesses as well as China’s emerging strength,” said Blinken, a clear reference to Trump’s dislike of groups like NATO, the UN and the World Health Organization.
Asked about how America’s opponents are using the attack on the Capitol as propaganda to undermine American democracy, Blinken acknowledged that the January 6 riot “ creates an even greater challenge for us to carry the flag of democracy, freedom and human rights around the world. . world because, sure, people in other countries say to us, “Well, why don’t you look at yourself first?” ”
But, he argued, as the US grapples with its problems in front of the whole world, it sends “a powerful message to countries trying to wipe it all out.”
Blinken said he believed that American leadership in the world requires investment in the establishment of the State Department and the diplomats who work there. Blinken said this means a diverse workforce that “resembles the country it represents.”
“We’re going to recruit, we’re going to keep, and we’re going to be held accountable for that,” he said.
He also pledged to place more foreign service workers in senior positions. While the number of career diplomats in senior positions in the State Department plummeted under Trump, the number has been declining for decades.
In 1975, 60 percent of senior positions were held by impartial officials, compared to 30 percent in 2014, when Blinken started as deputy secretary.
“I am committed to placing our career people in positions of responsibility and leadership,” he said.
On Iran, Blinken warned that Tehran was still months away from producing enough fissile material for a nuclear weapon, saying it could only be “a matter of weeks” if Iran continues to lift restrictions on the nuclear deal.
He said the US would be ready to return to compliance with the 2015 nuclear deal if Iran does, and then work with US allies and partners for a “longer and stronger” deal that includes other issues. Under pressure as to whether the release of detained Americans, which was not part of previous negotiations, would be a prerequisite for a comprehensive nuclear treaty, he did not commit.
Regardless of any deal, those Americans should be released. Period, ”he said, adding,“ We’re going to focus on getting them home somehow. ”
When asked if North Korea should be recognized as a nuclear power plant, Blinken said Biden had asked his national security team to review US policy on Pyongyang “across the board” to determine the most effective ways to denuclearize the Korean peninsula. The tools, he said, include the possibility of further sanctions in conjunction with US allies, as well as unspecified diplomatic incentives.
The Biden administration is also reviewing the relationship between the US and Saudi Arabia to make sure it is in line with US interests and values, he said. He called the 2018 murder of Jamal Khashoggi “a shameful act against a journalist and a US resident”.
But he refused to convict Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who the CIA concluded had ordered the murder of Khashoggi. Both Trump and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo publicly refused to acknowledge his role and wrote congressional resolutions blocking further arms sales to Saudi Arabia.
Blinken has deep roots in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as the son, stepson and nephew of ambassadors. He was deputy secretary in the Obama administration, and his wife, Evan Ryan, now Biden’s White House Secretary, served under Obama as Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs. Blinken is the first State Secretary in decades to take up the job with a young family at home.
“Having two very young children is actually an incredible source of inspiration because it really forms a foundation for what I’m trying to do,” he said. “We are all here to make sure that life is better every day for our fellow citizens. And most of all, what we do is try to leave behind a world that is just a little bit safer, a little more prosperous, a little bit healthier for our children and grandchildren. “