U.S. Department of State Spokesperson Ned Price, at a briefing in Washington DC on Thursday, spoke about the defeat of Ebola in Uganda and other issues around the world. Excerpts:
Ebola
The United States welcomes the January 11th announcement by the Government of Uganda and the World Health Organization of the end of the Ebola epidemic in Uganda. We commend the Ugandan Government and our international partners on reaching this milestone. We celebrate with the survivors just as we express our condolences for those lives lost.
We support the Government of Uganda’s response and – response and minimize outbreak spread. The U.S. Government mobilized a comprehensive interagency response to the Ebola outbreak through the U.S. Embassy in Kampala. The State Department, the Department of Health and Human Services, including the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the U.S. National Institutes of Health, the Department of Defense, and the Agency for International Development worked in coordination with the Government of Uganda and other key partners, such as the World Health Organization, to actively provide support in several areas vital to the response.
Every single outbreak reminds us that a health threat anywhere is a potential health threat to everyone in the world. The containment of this Ebola outbreak is just the most recent example of coordination and teamwork to keep all of us safe by preventing infectious disease threats from crossing borders.
Our work with countries around the world helps to not only prevent outbreaks and to detect them early but also to respond rapidly and effectively when they do occur. While we celebrate the end of this outbreak, we redouble our commitment to work with partners in Uganda and around the world to mitigate the risk of future disease outbreaks anywhere.
Terrorist attacks
We condemn in the strongest terms the terrorist attack that took place in Kabul. We’ve seen the claim of responsibility from ISIS-K. This, if ISIS-K was indeed behind this, is just the latest horrific example of a brutal group taking out, perpetrating senseless violence on the people of Afghanistan.
We send our deepest condolences to the loved ones, to the family members, of those who were killed in this senseless attack. We stand against and condemn terrorism everywhere, and of course that is the case in Afghanistan as well.
We have made no secret of the fact that the Taliban’s actions are inconsistent and at odds with what they have pledged to the international community, but more importantly what they have committed to the Afghan people.
We are always going to stand on the side of the Afghan people. We are going to continue to condemn the actions that they take that are inconsistent with the rights, with the liberties, with the freedoms, with the opportunities that should belong to the people of Afghanistan. And in doing so, we have any number of countries at our side. Just after the Taliban announced the restrictions on international NGOs, the United States, our fellow members of the so-called Group of Seven, other countries, issued a strong statement condemning this.
You have since heard other statements condemning this from countries around the world. Just today there was a strong statement from the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, a confederation of Muslim-majority countries that were vocal, were vociferous in their condemnation of what the Taliban is perpetrating on the women, the girls, the minorities, the people of Afghanistan.
We are going to continue to speak out with much of the rest of the world. We are going to continue to hold the Taliban to account for what they are perpetrating on the people of Afghanistan.
Libya
First the easy question: I am just not going to comment on any purported travel on the part of the CIA director, would need to refer you to the CIA to speak to any potential travel the director may be undertaking.
On the second part of your question, the report that you mentioned is not accurate. The reports of a meeting in Washington scheduled for tomorrow is erroneous. We take part in periodic consultations with key international stakeholders on how best to support the special representative of the secretary-general, SRSG Bathily, in setting the stage for elections in Libya and supporting the people of Libya. We look forward to hosting a future discussion as we have in the past, but we haven’t confirmed any dates at this time.
We continue to be engaged with political leaders in Libya and international partners on that very way forward in Libya. That includes a political track to establish a timeframe for elections as quickly as possible. We strongly support the special representative of the secretary-general, the call for national consensus in Libya on establishing a clear timeline for elections. We believe there is no other way to secure stability and long-term peace.
We share the desire of all Libyans to see Libyan leaders adopt the necessary measures as quickly as possible to set that electoral process in motion.
U.S. Navy veteran released in Poland
Unfortunately, there is little that I can say for reasons that you all know well, but I can make a few points.
First, we’re aware of reports that a U.S. citizen was deported after having been in Russian custody. I’m not in a position to discuss the particulars of this case due to privacy considerations that so often limit what we can say publicly. But as we always do, I want to emphasize that this department, the Department of State, has no higher priority than the safety and security of U.S. citizens overseas.
As a general matter, and when a U.S. citizen is deported from anywhere around the world – and of course this would include Russia – the department may provide assistance to help facilitate the return of that citizen to the United States. And as always, we stand ready to provide appropriate assistance to all U.S. citizens overseas.
Wrongful detention in Russia
We have been open and transparent because we have been in a position to do so regarding cases of wrongful detention inside of Russia. We had spoken of three cases. Two of those cases had been resolved with Trevor Reed and Brittney Griner now back in the United States, reunited with their loved ones. There is one case of wrongful detention in Russia at the moment, and that of course is the case of Paul Whelan. I say that with the very important caveat that we are always assessing the circumstances of the detention of each and every American around the world to determine if a particular case may meet the criteria that’s spelled out in policy, that’s spelled out in the Levinson Act to determine if those criteria are met. And when that determination is made, we will make the formal declaration that someone is wrongfully detained.
North Korea
Well, of course the DPRK poses a threat to Americans on the peninsula, to our allies in the region – of course, to our treaty allies, Japan and the ROK – and potentially beyond. So it is a threat that we and our Japanese allies take seriously; it is a threat that we and our South Korean allies take seriously. It is a threat that trilaterally, as partners, the United States, Japan, and South Korea take extraordinarily seriously.
Yesterday, you’ve heard from Secretary Blinken and Secretary Austin and their Japanese counterparts of our determination to maintain readiness, to maintain the effectiveness of our alliance, and to be in a position to deter and, as necessary, confront the threats that we face together as an alliance. One of those threats – perhaps the most challenging threat to regional peace and security we face at the moment – is that from the DPRK, namely its nuclear weapons program, its ballistic missile program as well.
We discussed these issues, alliance effectiveness and readiness, with our Japanese allies. We discussed them with our South Korean allies. But we are also very focused on the trilateral relationship because we know that, with the trilateral relationship, in some ways the sum is greater than its constituent parts. And we want to be prepared as allies – the United States, Japan, and South Korea – for the challenges, for the threats, and yes, for the opportunities as well that arise in the region.
President Biden I think demonstrated our commitment to trilateral cooperation in Cambodia late last year when, for the first time in some five years, brought together the leaders of Japan, of South Korea. Secretary Blinken has on several occasions now brought together his counterparts from the ROK and from Japan as well. Deputy Sherman has done that. Sung Kim, our special envoy for the DPRK, routinely does that. We see it as a critical element when it comes to our effort to confront the challenges to the vision of a free and open Indo-Pacific that the DPRK poses.
