Secretary of State Marco Rubio Remarks to the Press

SECRETARY RUBIO:  What’s up?  All right, let’s go. 

QUESTION:  Sir, The Wall Street Journal reported that Elon Musk is the one who made the decision to throttle Starshield and catch Ukraine off-guard.  Is this something you were aware of?  Can you — 

SECRETARY RUBIO:  Starlink. 

QUESTION:  Starlink and Starshield. 

SECRETARY RUBIO:  Okay, again, there’s this – all this confusion.  These are two separate programs, okay?  Starlink is a commercial – Starlink is the receivers you put on the roof of your house and you use for – it’s used for commercial purposes.  It’s not a military system, although it could be used in order to guide drones and things of this nature and so forth.  And then Starshield is different.  It’s a unique defense product that is sold and operated through the Department of War, as an example.  It’s two different items and it’s important to distinguish one from the other. 

I have not seen The Wall Street Journal reporting because I have not read it.  I know that what – so I’m not familiar with the story that you’re referring to.  But Starlink is a private company.  They have a contract.  They have contractual terms upon how that technology can be used.  The important point is we cannot direct a private company as to the decisions they make or not make.  What I can tell you with certainty is the President of the United States nor anyone in our system ever requested that any changes to that system be made, and that’s what we said repeatedly.  I don’t know what the story reflects, but that is the case. 

QUESTION:  Isn’t – even if it’s a private company, I mean, this obviously is vital national security infrastructure for Ukraine.  Isn’t this something that the U.S. – you as National Security Advisor – should have been given a heads-up on before? 

SECRETARY RUBIO:  Well, again, I’m not going to comment on what we knew that they might or might not do.  Suffice it to say that the reporting out there was that somehow the United States Government was denying them something they needed in order to defend their country.  That’s not true.  That’s not accurate.  And for leaders in Ukraine to continue to represent that is also not accurate. 

I would also say – and again, I hark back on this statement that was made a few days ago.  I don’t know who this official was in the Ukrainian Government that went around saying that a bunch of people had died as a result of what America was denying them.  Not only are we not denying them and it’s not true, how many millions of people have been saved because of what America has already provided?  No country in the world has done more to help Ukraine over the last four and a half years than the United States, including under the Trump Administration, and that continues to be the case.  But ultimately, what the President wants here is an end to this war.  That’s what he’s focused on. 

QUESTION:  Mr. Secretary, regarding the system in question, you said it’s inaccurate to say that the administration told SpaceX to throttle this service, but you’re not ruling out that the U.S. Government, if I understand correctly, knew about this decision. 

SECRETARY RUBIO:  Well, we’ve seen the public reporting on it.  We’ve seen the Ukrainians reporting that they were no longer able to use basically the internet. 

QUESTION:  Knew about this decision beforehand. 

SECRETARY RUBIO:  Yeah, I’m not aware that we knew about this decision beforehand.  I certainly – but it’s irrelevant.  The bottom line is that that is – that is governed by a private commercial contract as to the – how their stuff can be used and what speeds they allow it to be used at.  And so we’ll continue to engage on the matter, but the reporting initially was that somehow this was part of a directive from the United States Government, and I’m just here to tell you, as I’ve said repeatedly from the very beginning and the President has made clear, at no point did he say deny them the use of this system because I’m trying to punish them or teach them a lesson.  That’s just not accurate, and that’s what I’ve been addressing repeatedly. 

QUESTION:  But it doesn’t mean there was no foreknowledge. 

SECRETARY RUBIO:  What do you mean, it doesn’t mean there’s no foreknowledge?  I don’t understand your question. 

QUESTION:  Well, just because – just because the President – you’re not – just because the President doesn’t tell Musk do this doesn’t mean it wasn’t discussed. 

SECRETARY RUBIO:  Well, I – again, I don’t – the President has nothing to do with the decisions that are made by Starlink and Starshield and by Mr. Musk.  That’s a private company.  The President doesn’t run that company and can’t direct that company to do anything.  I’m not aware of any foreknowledge, nor anyone – but again, the reporting was not about foreknowledge.  I’m telling you there was no foreknowledge, but beyond it, even if there was, we don’t control what a private company – how they decide their product can be used.  Now, if they’re in a contract with the United States military, like Starshield, that’s a different matter, because that’s something we are purchasing and using for our use.  But in the case of Starlink – we’re arguing something that’s just – it just makes no sense, the argument that people continue to make that somehow we had foreknowledge or directed it.  It’s not accurate that we somehow knew about this ahead of time or directed it in any way. 

QUESTION:  Sir, do you expect Foreign — 

SECRETARY RUBIO:  And by the way, I’m – by the way, we’re no longer going to be defensive about this topic, okay, because what the United States – if it were not for the assistance of the United States, including under the Trump Administration, there would be no Ukraine right now.  Ukraine as a sovereign state would not exist.  That doesn’t mean the bravery of the Ukrainian fighters should not be highlighted, because they have absolutely very bravely and – fought for their country and done extraordinary things with the aid that’s been provided to them, standing up to a large – much larger country.  But let’s be very clear:  There would be no Ukraine today were it not for the assistance the United States has supplied Ukraine in the billions of dollars going back to the Biden administration and going – and through this administration as well. 

QUESTION:  Do you expect Foreign Minister Lavrov to come to the G20 Summit – or foreign ministers’ summit in Atlanta, and (inaudible)? 

SECRETARY RUBIO:  Well, the Russians are invited to be a part of the G20.  The President made that decision.  So obviously they’re going to be represented at each of these summits.  I don’t know if he himself is coming.  I expect he might.  I think he told us he was in the last time we engaged with him, so they’re part of the G20 and so they’ll be at that meeting.  And I know obviously there’s the potential that Putin might come to the one in Miami as well, although we don’t have confirmation on that. 

QUESTION:  Mr. Secretary — 

QUESTION:  Secretary, just thinking about the – your – your final remaining meeting here in India with Reliance.  Are you looking for anything specific from them in terms of an investment commitment or number or something about them changing what they do in terms of business regarding taking on more Venezuelan crude or making a greater investment in the U.S.?  Anything specific along those lines? 

SECRETARY RUBIO:  Well, perhaps.  I mean, we’ll see how the meetings go.  Obviously that’s something that – on the energy field the Department of Energy would be very involved on the details of any specific ask.  I think for us it’s more an opportunity to see their operations and have a broader discussion about their presence globally at a time in which energy is featuring prominently in many of the geopolitical decisions that are being made.   

This is a very large and prominent energy company.  They also have a pretty large investment already in the United States.  They have extensive refining capacity.  As I highlighted to you yesterday, this is a company, for example, that has the capability to refine the heavy crude that’s produced in the Western Hemisphere, including from Venezuela, so I’m sure that’s a topic we’ll discuss.  It’s – and I think through our conversations we’ll hopefully identify other opportunities to partner and work together. 

QUESTION:  Mr. Secretary, staying on India but on a different subject, there are many protests from the opposition and students here in India, and UN experts have criticized the crackdown — 

SECRETARY RUBIO:  Oh, the UN experts, yeah, my favorite.  The UN experts are the oxymoron. 

QUESTION:  Do you have a comment on those protests and — 

SECRETARY RUBIO:  No.  It’s a domestic political matter.  I mean, I’m not going to get involved in their politics.  I mean, they have – this is a democracy.  They have elections here, so I’m not going to opine on their domestic political matters.  We have protests every day in the United States because we’re – I mean, people view protests – I mean, obviously I’m not talking about the riots, like what you’re seeing in Europe, where they’re vandalizing and breaking into things and burning down buildings.  I’m not talking about that.  But in many ways, the fact that people are out there expressing themselves – I’m not talking about India; in any country in the world – is the sign that this is a country where there’s political discourse and so forth and differences of opinion.  So the fact that you – you just said a moment ago as part of your question “the opposition.”  Well, that – there’s no – for example, like there – in Cuba there is no opposition, like – that can actually go out and do anything without going to jail and being oppressed or – and exiled.   

So – but we’re not going to comment on internal political matters.  That’s for the Indian people to decide and navigate. 

QUESTION:  Sir, there were reports in Qatari media that Qatar and Pakistan have put forth a new proposal to Iran for the U.S. and Iran to come back to the negotiating table.  Are those reports accurate?  Is this something you’re — 

SECRETARY RUBIO:  I think there’s a number of countries that have been engaging over a period of time with Iran, floating proposals.  Ultimately any proposal that’s offered by any country in the world – look, we welcome mediation efforts.  Obviously these are countries that we have strong alliances and partnerships with.  In the case of Qatar in specific, they’ve been involved on this topic for a very long time.  I understand that Field Marshal Munir was actually in Tehran yesterday.  But in the end, any decision on what would be acceptable is on – is in the hands of the President of the United States, and I think he’s been abundantly clear at the core of all of this is something very simple to understand, is the United States will not support any deal that creates a pathway for Iran to ever have a nuclear weapon.  As long as President Trump is in office, they will never have a nuclear weapon. 

QUESTION:  There are reports that Witkoff is presenting Putin with an updated proposal from the U.S. side for a peace deal to end the war in Ukraine.  Can you share any information on the details of that? 

SECRETARY RUBIO:  No.  I’m not going to.  I mean – so Steve was in – I believe he just left Norway, but he met with Zelenskyy, and – so I think they floated some ideas.  He wanted to go there first.  He’s on his way to St. Petersburg – my understanding, he might even be underway as we speak – and I think he’ll share some ideas.  This is how – this is how this works, right?  You have to sort of see what the other side would be open to, and then you bring it to the other side and see if they’d be open to it and start to sort of narrow the gaps and the differences between the two sides.   

This is a very difficult negotiation.  I don’t need to tell you that.  And at its core, ultimately, has been the differences over Donbas.  I mean, I don’t try to oversimplify this, because this is a complex war for a lot of different reasons, but at the core of all this has been that part of Donbas that Russia demands but has not been able to take on the battlefield and that Ukraine currently holds and has done so very bravely and against all odds and against many predictions.  Remember, people predicted this war would be over in five days, and we’re going on five years, and a lot of that is credit to the fighters in Ukraine and their bravery and how hard they have fought. 

That said, the fight now is really concentrated on what happens to the remainder of Donbas, and so I think there’s some – been some creative ideas that have been put out there about how to resolve that difference, but obviously it has to be one in which both sides will have to agree to give up on something, and that’s always very difficult conversations to have.  I think for Ukraine the predominant desire is to ensure their long-term security and safety so that they’re never re-invaded or re-attacked in the future.   

And so Steve is conditioning those ideas.  He met with Zelenskyy a few hours ago.  My understanding from the – what information he provided to me and the readout I got from it is that it was positive.  Nothing unexpected, nothing surprising, and he’ll now, armed with those ideas, be able to go to St. Petersburg and share them with the Russian side and let’s if we can make some progress.  But as I said, these things are complex, and this a – if this was an easy war to solve, it would’ve been solved a long time ago. 

QUESTION:  Mr. Secretary, could you tell us if – are you hopeful that the Russians will release Stephen Hubbard? 

SECRETARY RUBIO:  Yeah, I don’t comment on that, other than to say that we think Mr. Hubbard should be released as soon as possible. 

QUESTION:  Yeah. 

SECRETARY RUBIO:  We’ve made that ask of the Russian system on a consistent basis, and we remain hopeful that that will happen.  But that’s – beyond that, I’m not going to comment on that right now. 

STAFF:  Thanks, guys. 

SECRETARY RUBIO:  No, let me just give them one last one.  This poor guy. 

STAFF:  All right, all right.  (Laughter.) 

QUESTION:  Wanted to ask — 

SECRETARY RUBIO:  He never gets questions.  (Laughter.)  Go ahead. 

QUESTION:  Last week, the President pushed out Ambassador Guilfoyle from Greece after the reports alleging unethical behavior.  The next day, you sent a message to remind State Department employees globally about the standards that you hold them to in terms of obeying rules regarding ethics, gifts, all of the rules, the structure of the State Department in posts globally.  Are you concerned that the kind of issues that we saw with Ambassador Guilfoyle go beyond her personally or there could be other — 

SECRETARY RUBIO:  No.  First of all, let me say that message that went out just happened to go out the next day, but it had been something that we had – I had ordered to go out like weeks in advance.  For whatever reason, the – somebody who works for me couldn’t get it out on time, because we asked them to do that weeks and weeks and weeks ahead of time.  So – but this is a message we’ve sent out multiple times.  It’s just a constant reminder of people, of who they work for.  They work for the Government of the United States, they work for the people of the United States, and we expect everyone in our department to do so not just in accordance with the law but with the higher standards possible.  Our ability to diplomatically represent this country is undermined and is sabotaged if there’s any implications that what you are doing – and I’m not talking about Kimberly in specific; anybody – you are undermined when – anytime there’s the notion that somehow what you are doing is somehow in your interest but not in the interest of the country. 

So we – it’s not the first time we’ve sent that message.  That is something we repeatedly do because to me it’s a very important principle of how we do our work.  It just happened to go out the day after, but that is something that, frankly, had been drafted and that I had ordered sent weeks in advance and unfortunately did not go out when I wanted it to go out for whatever reason.  But – and won’t – it probably won’t be the last time that a message like that is sent.  It’s something we just constantly remind people of just to set the right culture and standards. 

STAFF:  All right, thanks guys. 

SECRETARY RUBIO:  Okay, thank you guys.