SECRETARY KERRY'S REMARKS WITH UN SECRETARY GENERAL KI-MOON

FROM:  U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT 

Remarks With UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon

Remarks

John Kerry

Secretary of State

Cairo, Egypt

July 21, 2014

QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, can you tell us about the new aid that you’re announcing for Gaza today?

SECRETARY KERRY: Let me just say to everybody that, first of all, President Obama and all of us are deeply appreciative for the secretary general’s significant efforts to try to help bring about a ceasefire in the conflict in Gaza. And the secretary general has been meeting in the region, but he purposefully stayed over here a little extra time in order that we could meet and discuss ways in which we might be able to bring about or encourage the parties to embrace a ceasefire under the right circumstances.

We are deeply concerned about the consequences of Israel’s appropriate and legitimate effort to defend itself. No country can stand by while rockets are attacking it and tunnels are dug in order to come into your country and assault your people. But always, in any kind of conflict there is a concern about civilians, about children, women, communities that are caught in it. And we are particularly trying to focus on a way to respond to their very significant needs.

On behalf of President Obama and the United States, I’m privileged to announce tonight that the United States will immediately provide $47 million in order to provide direct humanitarian assistance of no other kind but humanitarian assistance to try to alleviate some of the immediate humanitarian crisis.

And meanwhile, we will work to see if there is some way to not only arrive at a ceasefire of some kind, but to get to a discussion about the underlying issues. Nothing will be resolved by any ceasefire, temporary or long, without really getting to those issues at some point. And that’s what we need to do.

Mr. Secretary General.

SECRETARY GENERAL BAN: Secretary Kerry, ladies and gentlemen, it’s a great pleasure to see you, and I’m very pleased to be joined by you today. Our joint efforts will, I hope, make a great contribution to ongoing mediation efforts by the parties in the region to end the violence. I would like to thank Secretary Kerry for his active engagement and the tireless commitment for the peace and stability in the Middle East, and in particular these days in Gaza and Israel.

Our joint efforts are rooted on three mutually reinforcing efforts. First and foremost, we must find a way to stop the violence. So many people have died. As the Secretary just said, it’s mostly civilian population, women and children. It’s very sad, it’s tragic. We have to do all what we can do. That is why I am here in support of the Egyptian mediation proposal, and I’m coming from Qatar where I met Qatari emir. And also, I met President Abbas in Doha. And I went to Kuwait and I had the very good meeting with the Kuwaiti emir who is now a chair of the League of Arab State summit meeting. Tomorrow I am going to Israel and Palestine.

And second priority should be that we are urging the parties return to a dialogue. I believe that all the options should be on the table so that they can address these issues through dialogue in a peaceful means without resorting to violence.

Thirdly, we hope that they will also address root causes of this crisis. There have been many dialogues and there have been many crises, but we have not yet been able to address all these root causes. I deeply appreciate and highly commend Secretary Kerry’s diplomatic efforts to have Middle East peace process. I sincerely hope that when a ceasefire is realized that you will immediately resume the dialogue at this time.

I full understand, fully sympathize the sufferings of the Palestinian people, particularly in Gaza. These restrictions should be lifted as soon as possible so that people should not resort to this kind of violence as a way of expressing their grievances. At the same time, I fully appreciate the legitimate right to defend their country and citizens of Israel. Israel should also be able to live in peace and security without being endangered of their citizens.

I’m asking that Hamas should immediately stop firing rocket. While I understand all how, why Israelis has to respond militarily, but there is a proportionality. And most of the Palestinian people have been – most of the death toll are Palestinian people.

Therefore at this time our first and foremost effort should be focused on ending violence. I hope during Secretary Kerry’s and my visit in the region these days, we’ll be able to help the parties to agree to a ceasefire in a reasonable form and immediately return to dialogue and address the root causes.

And I really appreciate, again, your diplomatic efforts, and United Nations will spare no efforts. And I really appreciate your very generous humanitarian assistance for the Palestinian people. UN is trying to work to mobilize necessary humanitarian assistance as much as we can, as we have been doing in the past. Thank you.

SECRETARY KERRY: Let me just say in furtherance quickly – I would like to just say in furtherance of what the secretary general just said, we are both here in support of and in an effort to help get implemented the Egyptian initiative for the ceasefire. Israel and Egypt have encouraged that, and Israel has accepted that ceasefire proposal. So only Hamas now needs to make the decision to spare innocent civilians from this violence.

I know from talking to Prime Minister Netanyahu earlier tonight Israel is obviously going to defend itself, but he feels deeply, as does everybody, what – the pressures that this creates on civilians. But today, Israel lost more soldiers in defense of their country, and so Israel feels this as strongly as anybody. It is important for all of us to try to make certain that we do everything possible.

Hamas now has a decision. Only Hamas is out there awaiting the decision, and we hope they will make the right decision. The secretary general and I will both make certain that the issues that need to be discussed will be discussed if we go forward, but we must have an atmosphere within which people in all concerns and parties can come together to have those discussions.

Thank you.

SECRETARY OF STATE CLINTON ADDRESSES G-8 MEETING REGARDING SYRIA

FROM:  U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT
Remarks at the G-8 Plenary Session
Remarks Hillary Rodham Clinton
Secretary of State Blair House
Washington, DC
April 11, 2012

Well, once again, welcome to the historic Blair House here in Washington. I greatly appreciate this opportunity to discuss in person the many global issues that require joint leadership from the G-8 nations. The events of this past year, even of just this past week, affirm the continued need for comprehensive international cooperation, and the G-8 is an essential forum for that.

We are alarmed for the ongoing violence in Syria, and we are concerned about the problems facing Special Envoy Kofi Annan as he attempts to bring about a ceasefire and the end to violence. We are very watchful of this. This will be on our agenda later this afternoon. We will look for ways that we can, together, try to bring about a peaceful resolution of the current situation and a political transition for the sake of the Syrian people.

We also look forward to the beginning of the next round of P-5+1 talks in Turkey. These talks are an opportunity for Iran to address seriously the international community’s concerns about its nuclear program. And we believe there is still time for diplomacy, but it is urgent that the Iranians come to the table to establish an environment conducive to achieving concrete results through a sustained process.

And further to the east, North Korea is readying a long-range ballistic missile launch over the East China Sea. It comes just weeks after North Korea agreed to a moratorium on missile testing; it violates multiple UN Security Council resolutions. I think we all share a strong interest in stability on the Korean Peninsula, and we will be discussing how best to achieve that as well.

Earlier today, our Quartet colleagues – which includes the United Nations, represented by Secretary General Ban Ki-moon; the European Union, represented by High Representative Cathy Ashton; the Russian Federation, represented by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov; and the United States, represented by myself and our special envoys – met to review the situation in the Middle East. Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh briefed on Jordan’s recent engagement. The Quartet underscored its support for Jordan’s positive efforts. We remain committed to the goals that we outlined in New York last September. We agreed on the importance of continued financial international support for the Palestinian Authority, including the need for $1.1 billion in immediate assistance.

And finally, we have begun discussing some of the transnational issues – terrorism, piracy, food security – that affect so many millions of people throughout the world. We are also going to be discussing our shared framework to support the democratic transitions and promote sustainable and inclusive economic growth through the Deauville Partnership in the Middle East and North Africa.

So there’s a lot for us to discuss, and we have a full agenda ahead of us in preparation for the leaders meeting at Camp David next month. So again, I welcome my colleagues and look forward to our work together. Thank you all.