Secretary of State Marco Rubio Remarks to the Press

QUESTION: Mr. Secretary -

SECRETARY RUBIO: Yeah.

QUESTION: There's this report out just now that India is going to be investigating CEO Jensen Huang. New York Times reported that you had concerns about his relationship with the Chinese spy. Can you bring us up to date as to if Jensen Huang was cut out of any U.S. Government meetings or any briefings as a result -

SECRETARY RUBIO: Yeah, I can't comment on any of that. I just can't comment because of the nature of it. And I also can't comment on an internal corporate matter that's going on with Nvidia (inaudible) I don't know anything about that part of it so -

QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, what lesson can you take from the midterm elections (inaudible) when it comes to your foreign policy -

SECRETARY RUBIO: I'm not in a political office. As you know, I just don't comment on domestic politics.

QUESTION: Can you say -

SECRETARY RUBIO: Sorry to be less than exciting with regard to that; it's a new thing for me after having spent 14 years doing it. But I think this role is best done for the most part when you don't engage yourself in domestic politics. I think it's been a longstanding tradition. So -

QUESTION: Do you agree with the Vice President when he says (inaudible) war should end?

SECRETARY RUBIO: Well, I'm not going to comment on the war - or, I'm sorry, on the elections, which is what you're asking me about. All I can tell you is that the President of the United States identified a very real threat to this country that's existed for a very long period of time, and he addressed it. And he addressed it even though, oftentimes, the right thing to do for the country - confronting difficult challenges for the security of our country - doing it isn't necessarily popular but necessary. At the end of the day I think we all can all agree, I think there's bipartisan - I would hope there's bipartisan - maybe not anymore - but there used to be bipartisan acknowledgment that a nuclear Iran would be completely unacceptable and dangerous for the United States - not just Israel, not just the Middle East - the whole world and the United States.

So I think the President took on something that other presidents have failed to do. And sometimes when you do the right thing - I don't know if it's popular or not, but it's the right thing to do. And presidents are elected to do the hard things - sometimes difficult things, but necessary things.

QUESTION: Do you believe the cost of the war was worth the electoral blowout?

SECRETARY RUBIO: I told you I'm not going to comment on electoral - I just don't have any opinion on what happened in the election.

QUESTION: On the two kind of active conflicts you have now, there's been more sort of - more strikes on Qeshm Island, the -

SECRETARY RUBIO: Well, the U.S. acts defensively. If there's a threat to our forces in the region, we will act against those. If there's a threat to shipping, we've been defending shipping for a while. So if there's a clear and present threat to shipping or to our forces in the region, we have a right to defend ourselves. So all of that is determined by the threat level and whether they're coming after us or potentially coming after us. But I mean, that's just normal -

QUESTION: And then on Ukraine, Russia-Ukraine, the President floated this idea of some kind of European-wide security pact.

SECRETARY RUBIO: Well, if you remember -

QUESTION: I was just wondering if this is going to be -

SECRETARY RUBIO: Well, there'll be talks tomorrow, starting tomorrow, in Abu Dhabi.

QUESTION: No, I mean at the G7.

SECRETARY RUBIO: Oh, I'm sure. What - because here's why. The entirety of the time we've been talking about Russia-Ukraine, the one thing that's repeatedly come up is the need for security guarantees - what is the post-war security infrastructure of Ukraine and, more broadly, of the European continent going to look like? And it's one of the key topics that's been raised repeatedly in every conversation any time negotiations have been discussed. So I think that's what the President is alluding to, that there's been some advances made in what that architecture should look like post-conflict. We obviously have to get past the conflict to get to that point.

So look, there's been talks about that. I think the President was briefed on that on Thursday or Friday of last week, some of the initial thoughts that are out there. Nothing's been finalized yet. And maybe some progress can be made in Abu Dhabi tomorrow when Jared and Steve will be there. I think they're on the way there right now.

QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, I know you don't want to comment on the elections but -

SECRETARY RUBIO: But you're going to ask me anyway.

QUESTION: - but your allies are going to ask you about it tomorrow, because it's your first opportunity that you all meet inside the G7 after the election.

SECRETARY RUBIO: We have - we have national elections in our country every two years. I have been now involved, I guess going since 2011 when I was sworn in as a senator, so I've watched these things - and even my time in the legislature. It is not uncommon to have a division of power in this country. We've seen it before. We've seen elections going one direction and, a couple years later, go another. It's just a feature of our system. So I've been in the minority, I've been in the majority, with regards to being in the Senate. I've been in the majority with a Republican president. I've been in the minority with a Democrat president. I think I've had every iteration of it. And the Republican (inaudible) continues.

So we'll do our work; we'll continue to do our work. Congress will do theirs. I hope they do it in a way that's responsible and focused on the issues that are important to our country and our people. But that's our system of government. Many of our allies will be aware but they too have experienced divisions in government and divisions in their own system. So we'll have elections again in two more years. And they could look very different; they could look the same. I don't know. But this is the way our system works.

QUESTION: Is there a particular message you're looking to bring to allies on this trip?

SECRETARY RUBIO: On - with regards to this trip? Well, they have an agenda the French have set. Obviously, we'll be talking about super intelligence. We'll be talking about some of the global conflicts. I'm sure they'll have a lot of questions about the status of affairs in the Middle East with regards to Iran. I think there'll be, obviously, a conversation. The Ukrainians are joining us; Sybiha will be there. So I'm sure that topic will come up. I know - I think they'll be curious to know of any progress that's being made in the technical talks that are ongoing in Abu Dhabi.

And then I imagine there's a host of other issues they'll want to discuss. But the agenda, you'll see it. I mean, it's been pretty - it's been laid out, some of the topics they want to raise and talk about. So -

QUESTION: Mr. Secretary -

QUESTION: You're going to France. Is there any worry about the protests that's been happening there?

SECRETARY RUBIO: No. I mean, I trust our people. I mean, we asked our people, obviously. If there was a problem, I think they would tell us. So we got to - the work must continue, right. I mean, France has the presidency. I think this is probably the last meeting in the G7 under their presidency in terms of foreign ministers. And I think we'll host it next year. So yeah, I - if our people say it's fine, I believe them. So -

QUESTION: Any diplomatic progress with Iran for drawing a diplomatic end to the war?

SECRETARY RUBIO: I don't have any progress to report to you. I think you see some of these things that are out there; you have a number of countries that continue to engage them with different ideas. But I wouldn't say we're in - on the verge of a breakthrough. The President would always prefer to solve this and every problem diplomatically. Sometimes that's not possible, unfortunately. But if there's a chance to do it, we'll explore it. Right now it hasn't been very productive, because the Iranian demands are simply not just unacceptable but, in some cases, outrageous and ridiculous and really not realistic.

All right? Let me go do my call -

QUESTION: Just on Haiti quickly, sir -

SECRETARY RUBIO: Haiti?

QUESTION: Yeah, the Salvadorian deployments that have gone in there. The President said - he kind of green-lit that, but is the U.S. providing any support? And are you concerned that -

SECRETARY RUBIO: No, I mean, the - I think - no, I mean, the Salvadorians are providing their own airlift. So there's two things going on in Haiti. We have the gang suppression force, which is the UN mission, and they have forces - I think about a hundred soldiers that are a part of that. And that's what we've been engaged in and supporting. We don't have troops there, but we've been engaged.

And then there's a separate mission, which they've taken on bilaterally in agreement with the Haitian officials, to go after the gangs that kidnapped their forces that were there, their soldiers that were there. So that's a separate mission. He called the President and made them aware of what he was doing, and the President understood why he was doing it. But we're not necessarily - we're not actively involved in that effort.

QUESTION: Does it potentially undermine the gang suppression force that you have?

SECRETARY RUBIO: No, as long -

QUESTION: The Salvadoreans that you have there -

SECRETARY RUBIO: Yeah.

QUESTION: - are private security contractors. There's a lot of people in the ground working.

SECRETARY RUBIO: Yeah. No, as long as the chain of command is well established, who's working for who. And I think they'll have to - and we've raised this point, not because it's a criticism, just as an observation. We have to make - we have to make sure that there's de-confliction going on. What you can't have is gang suppression force running into Salvadorian soldiers and shooting at each other because they think the other side are gang members. So that's why you'll need a de-confliction mechanism. You'll need a lot of strong coordination because they're operating alongside one another. So we pointed that out, and - but I don't think it necessarily has to be a conflict. Okay?

QUESTION: (Inaudible) -

SECRETARY RUBIO: Yeah.

QUESTION: We're now into the fifth-month -

SECRETARY RUBIO: Period - right.

QUESTION: - period before the sanctions begin against (inaudible). And what is your - is your demand of your allies to be able to make this (inaudible) -

SECRETARY RUBIO: Or - unless they can get them to change their mind and agree to reform, as they should.

QUESTION: But what -

SECRETARY RUBIO: They should make very clear that they do not - you still have elements of the ICC who claim that they have jurisdiction over citizens that are not - of non-member-states. And we're never going to accept that when it comes to Americans. It's as simple as that. We've been clear on that. For a year and a half, we've made no progress trying to get them to make that clear in their reforms. They refuse to do so, so we're taking action. And that's it.

QUESTION: Is that what you want to see in writing from the (inaudible) by your allies, some sort of change (inaudible) -

SECRETARY RUBIO: Yeah, I mean, at this point, we've made clear to them where we stand on it and how we feel about it. And we've asked them, if they don't want us to take these actions against the ICC, then they should convince the ICC to wake up and realize that they do not have jurisdiction over citizens of countries that are not members, especially leaders or a servicemember of countries that are not members of the treaty. What's the point of the treaty? If they claim universal jurisdiction without limitation and outside the treaty, then they're way outside the bounds of their - of the mandate that they may have from these other countries that are members of it.

So it's very simple. If they want to avoid the actions we are going to take against the ICC, they should convince the ICC once and for all to do the things that are necessary to ensure that no American servicemember or leader ever has jurisdiction from the ICC placed on them because that's illegitimate. It's an illegitimate action. And they refuse to acknowledge that. So we'll do what we need to do if they don't do it.

All right.

QUESTION: So how big a problem would it be if they invoked the (inaudible) of the EU, (inaudible) secondary sanctions?

SECRETARY RUBIO: I'm not concerned. We won't have - we have our ways; we'll get to it. The ICC will not be in good shape if we have to get there. And we will if we have to. But look, they still have a chance. Maybe they'll wake up and realize that their dreams of being some universal court of jurisdiction over everyone, including countries that didn't sign up, maybe they'll abandon those ridiculous dreams. We'll see. We're on it.

Okay, thanks, guys.

QUESTION: Thank you.

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