Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh Holds a Press Briefing

Nov. 21, 2024

DEPUTY PRESS SECRETARY SABRINA SINGH: All right. All right. Good afternoon. All right, just short — two items today and then happy to take your questions.

Yesterday and today, Secretary Austin met with Southeast Asian defense leaders for the 14th ASEAN Defense Ministers Meeting Plus in Laos, where he laid out a new vision for ensuring a free, prosperous, and secure Indo-Pacific region through enhanced US defense cooperation with Southeast Asian allies and partners.

Centered on ASEAN and its member states, this enhanced cooperation seeks to advance the collective capacity of ASEAN and individual Southeast Asian nations by building capabilities, exchanging expertise, ensuring free trade, and bolstering sovereignty. You can find the full Department of Defense Vision Statement for a prosperous and secure Southeast Asia, as well as a readout from the secretary's engagements on the margins of ADMM-Plus on Defense.gov.

And looking to tomorrow, the secretary will wrap up his trip to the Indo-Pacific with a historic first-ever visit by a US secretary of defense to Fiji. He'll meet with the prime minister and other leaders to strengthen our bilateral defense partnership and discuss ways the — in which the US will continue to invest in the Pacific Island region.

And turning to Ukraine, yesterday we announced an additional $275 million security assistance package for Ukraine, which was the 70th tranche of aid since August 2021. This Presidential Drawdown Authority package provides critical capabilities, including munitions for HIMARS, artillery, anti-tank weapons, drones, and protective equipment.

And with that, I'm happy to take your questions. Lita?

Q: Thanks, Sabrina. A couple of questions on the missile strike in Ukraine. First, it was — can you confirm it was an intermediate range missile? Second, did Russia provide advance warning? And can you say — can you give us some sort of clarity on who they called and how much advance notice did they give?

And then just thirdly on this, what is the overall US reaction to the missile strike and Putin's comments today that he believes Russia has the right to strike any — and take action against countries that provide weapons to Ukraine?

DEPUTY PRESS SECRETARY SINGH: Thanks Lita. So, trying to remember some of the order of your questions, so I can confirm that Russia did launch an experimental intermediate range ballistic missile. This IRBM was based on Russia's RS-26 Rubezh intercontinental ballistic missile model.

In terms of notifications to the United States, the United States was pre-notified briefly before the launch through nuclear risk reduction channels. For more, I'd refer you to State on that.

And I think your third question was on our reaction to Putin's comments. I mean, you know, we've seen this type of, you know, dangerous, reckless rhetoric before from President Putin. What we're focused on is continuing to support Ukraine with what it needs.

Ukraine, as you know, has been successful in continuing to push back against Russian aggression. We just rolled out another $275 million package yesterday. You're going to see more packages continue in the — in the weeks and months ahead left of this administration. So, that's what we're really focused on.

Of course, we're going to take seriously the rhetoric coming out of Russia. But our focus remains on arming Ukraine and supporting Ukraine what it needs the most on the battlefield. And as a reminder, as this reckless rhetoric continues, Putin can choose to end this war today. He can choose to withdraw Russian forces and end this — and end, you know, his war of aggression and his war of choice. So, we're going to continue to focus on what Ukraine needs on the battlefield.

Liz?

Q: To follow up on that, earlier this week, Putin signed a new nuclear doctrine for Russia. Have we seen their nuclear posture change at all?

DEPUTY PRESS SECRETARY SINGH: We haven't seen any adjustments that we've observed in their nuclear posture, and we haven't adjusted our nuclear posture in exchange. You know, something that I think I said on Tuesday is that they're — the changes that we've made were expected and something that, you know, we had anticipated for a while. Again, extremely, you know, reckless, but we haven't made any adjustment — adjustments to our posture.

Q: And something from earlier this week, Ukraine's use of — or reported use of ATACMS. Can you confirm that Ukraine used ATACMS on targets in Russia?

DEPUTY PRESS SECRETARY SINGH: I still don't have anything to announce or confirm. But, you know, when — if there is a — if there is more to share, I certainly will. Again, you just saw us roll out another $275 million package earlier this week. We're going to continue to supply Ukraine what it — what it needs. But I'd really refer you to the Ukrainians to speak to their operations.

Oren?

Q: Just to clarify something you said in response to Lita. You said this was based on an RS-26 Rubezh missile?

DEPUTY PRESS SECRETARY SINGH: Yeah.

Q: Does that mean it was an RS-26, or was it one of the — one of the derivatives like an RS-28? Can you be just a little more specific on that?

DEPUTY PRESS SECRETARY SINGH: I can't get more specific other than that it was based off of — what I would say is it was based off of the design of the RS-26. But I'm just not going to be able to give you more details than that right now.

Q: And then just a sort of related question on a different topic, the provision or the decision to provide anti-personnel mines to Ukraine. Can you say, first, what type of anti-personnel mines? What makes you so confident that they'll be used correctly? And second, given the position of the administration essentially two years ago, does this require a presidential waiver or some step there to ok the export of these?

DEPUTY PRESS SECRETARY SINGH: So, in terms of how the Ukrainians employ these mines on the battlefield, the Ukrainians have given us their assurances that they are going to only use them in Ukraine. We are providing a — different variants of the type of mines. I'm just not going to get into more details than that.

I think it's important to note that the reason why we are providing these APLs is because, as the battlefield has changed and the fight has evolved over time, so have we. So has our support. And I think you saw the secretary speak to this on his travel, but Russia has changed their tactics. So, they're not leading with their mechanized forces. They're leading with dismounted forces. And so, because of that, we feel that these APLs and how they will be able to be used on the battlefield will be helpful to Ukraine.

In terms of your second question on if there needs to be something — oh, a type of waiver, I'd refer you to the White House to speak to that.

Idris?

Q: On this sort of scale of escalation, where do you see the IRBM? It's obviously not an ICBM, but, you know, a level of concern and where does this sort of lie, this particular missile?

DEPUTY PRESS SECRETARY SINGH: So, this was a new type of lethal capability that was employed on the battlefield. So that's certainly a concern to us. And we're going to—I don't have an assessment of its impacts right now, but it's something that of course we're concerned by. But what's been escalatory in this war is the fact that Russia decided to turn to a foreign country and bring those DPRK soldiers into the fight.

So we're going to continue to monitor what we're focused on, is supporting Ukraine and arming Ukraine with what it needs.

Q: And then just following up on Lita's question, President Putin sort of said that actually the US was escalating by allowing Ukraine to hit inside Russia with the ATACMS and that there was a possibility of the conflict becoming more global. If you could just sort of respond to that, his sort of very clear sort of accusation that it was the United States fault that it was becoming more escalatory.

DEPUTY PRESS SECRETARY SINGH: Yeah. I think it's pretty clear and couldn't be more black and white in what's escalatory here. Russia invaded its sovereign neighbor. We can go back two years, continue to look at the facts. We've been very clear publicly and privately to Russia that we're going to support Ukraine because another sovereign country doing that to its neighbors should not go unchecked.

And the United States, our partners and allies around the world, stand for an international rules-based order, and that's what brings us together at the table, like-minded values and principles. So we're going to support Ukraine as long as it takes, and we've been pretty clear about that from the beginning.

Again, Putin has the decision and the authority to end this war today. He continues to escalate. He continues to take provocative actions like you just saw with this recent IRBM that was launched into Ukraine, the bringing in of DPRK soldiers into the fight. Each time, these actions are more escalatory.

Simply what the United States is doing and our 50 or so partners and allies around the world, is giving Ukraine what it needs to be in the fight. And I also think it's important to remember that every single day Russia is expending approximately 1,200 casualties on the battlefield. Ukraine has proven itself time and again, and we're very proud to stand with them in this fight.

Fadi?

Q: Thank you, Sabrina. Speaking of the rules based order that say you're defending, the ICC today issued two warrants for the Prime Minister of Israel, Mr. Netanyahu and former defense Minister, Mr. Gallant, alleging that they committed crimes against humanity, war crimes, including using starvation as a tool of war, a weapon of war.

What do you think of that decision? And will it cause the department and the secretary to rethink the support you're providing Israel with its war in Gaza?

DEPUTY PRESS SECRETARY SINGH: Thanks, Fadi, for the question. So the United States fundamentally rejects the court's decision to issue these arrest warrants for senior Israeli officials. We remain concerned by the prosecutor's rush to seek arrest warrants and some of the processes that this has played out in. And again, we've been very clear that the ICC does not have jurisdiction over this matter.

So we're in coordination with our partners including Israel, discussing next steps. I'm not going to have much more for you as I might refer you to the State Department and the White House for a little bit more. But in terms of our support for Israel, we're continuing to support Israel with the assistance it needs in its fight against Hamas and Lebanese Hezbollah, but that doesn't mean that we can't continue to make clear our concerns on the conduct and how they are conducting those operations, whether it be in Gaza or on the northern border.

Q: So you're rejecting the decision based on, I guess, technicalities and jurisdiction. What do you think of the allegations, committing war crimes and crimes against humanity?

DEPUTY PRESS SECRETARY SINGH: Again, we don't see eye-to-eye on where the ICC is and as I've said, we reject the court's decision to issue these arrest warrants. So I think that pretty much implies that we don't agree with that decision.

Q: OK. So what is the legal opinion you're basing your rejection on? Did the department issue any legal opinion on what's been happening in Gaza? Did you study any incidents that are mentioned in the ICC decision?

DEPUTY PRESS SECRETARY SINGH: I'm not aware of a formal legal opinion being issued by this department. I think you've asked me that before. Some of the things that either public reports or private reports or reports from NGOs, we always take those seriously and we've had those conversations from here at the podium.

And when Minister Gallant was in the seat previously, the secretary was regularly engaging with him about what was happening in Gaza, what was happening on that northern border in Lebanon. And I mean, we take it so seriously that we installed a maritime corridor to get aid into Gaza.

So it's something that we're going to continue to engage with the Israelis on and we have people in the region right now engaging on these issues that you're raising. So again, I'm not aware of a legal review coming from this building, but all the issues that you raise every single day, whether it be here in this briefing room or in our office, we take very seriously.

Q: I have one more follow up, please.

DEPUTY PRESS SECRETARY SINGH: Of course.

Q: So if you don't have any legal assessment, how can you reject what's been presented by a legal body, one of the highest? It's an international law court. How can you reject it if you don't have a counter legal assessment? Is it a political rejection And if you don't have a legal assessment—

DEPUTY PRESS SECRETARY SINGH: Yeah. Again, Fadi, I'm just not going to have more for you to provide other than what I said is that we reject the court's decision. That doesn't necessarily mean that it has to go through a legal process. We can reject decisions from the court that come down in various forums. We're in discussions with our partners, including Israel on the next steps, but I'm just not going to have more for you.

Q: Thank you.

DEPUTY PRESS SECRETARY SINGH: Yeah.

Q: Thank you very much, Sabrina. The Russian President suggests that this regional conflict now has global elements, and the British are talking about fighting the Russian tonight, if needed. IBRMs are being fired into Ukraine and Ukraine is firing US and British missiles into Russia. So you are accusing Russia of escalating; they are accusing you back of escalating, but one thing is for certain that things are escalating.

Where do you think this is headed towards, because many countries are very much concerned that hundreds of millions of people are going to be impacted by what could actually unfold. So like, where do you think this is headed to?

DEPUTY PRESS SECRETARY SINGH: Well, I'll say something that we've said from the beginning, is that we don't seek a wider regional conflict. We don't seek war with Russia. And I think we've been pretty clear about that from this podium and from this administration. What we are going to do, though, and what we have made clear in public channels and private channels, is that we're not going to stand for another country invading its neighbor and we're going to continue to support Ukraine in its fight.

And I think it's important to remember that this isn't a secret. This was known from the very beginning. We warned Russia back in 2022 not to do this and they did it anyways. And so there are consequences for that. But we don't want to see this escalate into a wider regional conflict. We don't seek war with Russia.

But absolutely, you're going to see like-minded allies and partners come together to support Ukraine and that's what we're going to continue to do.

Q: If I could ask one more follow up. I know that you say that you don't want a wider war and you don't want it to escalate, but it looks like it is kind of escalating from both sides.

DEPUTY PRESS SECRETARY SINGH: US forces aren't in the fight. You don't see—I mean the only other foreign country that's been brought into this fight is North Korean soldiers on the battlefield. But you're not seeing US fighters on the ground and that's not the intention of this administration.

Q: You're right. You're saying that Russia invaded Ukraine. That's correct. You're saying that North Korean soldiers were brought into the battlefield, that's correct. I'm not looking into who's right, or who's wrong, but the fact is that things are escalating, and other countries are getting dragged into this. So what I'm saying is that are you concerned that this escalation is accelerating at a speed that no one would really like?

DEPUTY PRESS SECRETARY SINGH: I think we're always going to be concerned by the reckless rhetoric coming out. We are certainly concerned by the escalatory moves and acknowledging your point that Russia is making when it comes to employing DPRK forces on the ground. I mean, we acknowledge that is escalatory and that would be met with a response.

And that's what we're working with Ukraine on and continuing to support them on the battlefield. But to your larger question of escalation and bringing in countries into the fight, I'll make it very clear again, we don't seek war with Russia. That's not our intention. But we absolutely are going to going to support Ukraine, and that's been something that the president has been very clear about since day one.

Charlie?

Q: Thank you. Sabrina. You said the United States was notified. Was that a matter of days, hours or minutes, about this missile? In his remarks today Putin said that US defense systems are incapable of intercepting these weapons anyway. How much of a threat do they pose? And second question, there are reports today that a North Korean general may have been injured. Can you confirm that they've engaged in combat or confirmed that report?

DEPUTY PRESS SECRETARY SINGH: I can't confirm the report on a North Korean general officer, I think you said, being injured in the battlefield. But that being said, where they are positioned they are absolutely fair target, and we absolutely expect them to be engaged in the fight. But I can't independently confirm those reports. I've seen them.

In terms of, you know, Putin's comments on our — on our force posture or our defense systems, I'm just not going to get into that. But what I can tell you is that, again, we're going to continue to support Ukraine with what it needs to be successful on the battlefield. And I think you asked about the pre-notification. We were pre-notified briefly before the launch, but I'm just not going to get into more specifics than that.

Q: But this does this weapon — experimental or not, he suggests that there are more of them and he intends to use them, and he will warn, as he has done. Do they pose a real and present threat in this conflict?

DEPUTY PRESS SECRETARY SINGH: Any weapon that's going to be employed on the battlefield absolutely imposes a threat to the Ukrainians. And that's why — you know, this was, as we said, an experimental intermediate range ballistic missile. It's certainly concerning that they are employing it on the battlefield. But again, Ukraine has withstood countless attacks from Russia, including missiles with significantly larger warheads than this weapon. So, we're going to continue to support Ukraine with what it needs.

Janne?

Q: Thank you very much, Sabrina. A few questions about the Russia, North Korea, and Ukraine. The first question, North Korea announced that it will send 100,000 more troops if the soldiers it dispatches die in the Ukraine war. And also, President Zelenskyy said that up to 100,000 North Korean troops would participate in the battle. How would you react to this?

DEPUTY PRESS SECRETARY SINGH: So, we're not tracking that 100,000 North Korean troops have been sent to Russia or to fight in this war. What we've — what we are tracking and our assessments are, is that, you know, there's probably over 11,000 DPRK soldiers that are in the Kursk region. And as I said on Tuesday, could there be more that get sent to the battlefield? Absolutely. It's something that we're going to continue to monitor. But right now, our assessment is that it's approximately 11,000 — or over 11,000, I should say, in the Kursk region.

Q: It is known that the North Korean military is participating in battles by joining the Russian Marine Corps and airborne troops. Also, the video shown in Ukraine reported that several North Korean soldiers were killed and injured. Does the US have any information on the number of North Korean casualties and injuries in battles?

DEPUTY PRESS SECRETARY SINGH: Similarly to what Charlie asked, I just can't confirm reports that they've, you know, started to engage in battle. I've seen the public reporting out there that a general officer was wounded. But, again, I can't confirm it.

Do we expect these soldiers to be brought into the fight? Yes, absolutely. They are in Kursk for a region — a reason. But I just can't confirm those reports that are circulating right now. We'll certainly keep you updated on that.

Yeah. Can I just go over — yeah.

Q: Thank you, Sabrina. Despite your rejecting the ICC's decision about Mr. Netanyahu and his previous Defense Minister Gallant, there are many allied countries in NATO, like Canada, France, are accepting the decision. But my question will be about the core issue, which is the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

Mr. Secretary was the first to say that the humanitarian issue in Gaza could be a tactical defeat for Israel if they don't take care of it. So, now we are far beyond that line, and you just sent a shared letter with the State Department to the Israelis to recheck their position and the humanitarian situation in Gaza, or otherwise you could see what you are going to do with the weapons supply to the Israelis. So, after this decision, even if you reject it or — do you have anything to do to check the humanitarian issue in Gaza and improve it for the Gazans?

DEPUTY PRESS SECRETARY SINGH: Sorry. Just to understand a little bit more of your question, you're asking if we, the United States, is monitoring the humanitarian aid getting into Gaza?

Q: The decision of the ICC is another thing, but the —

DEPUTY PRESS SECRETARY SINGH: Ok.

Q: Humanitarian issue and the problems are there.

DEPUTY PRESS SECRETARY SINGH: Right.

Q: So, are you going to do anything to address this problem in Gaza?

DEPUTY PRESS SECRETARY SINGH: I mean, every single day we are engaging with the Israelis, and it's not just the Department of Defense. I mean, you have other agencies like USAID. You have the UN that are engaging at their levels to ensure that aid can get in. I think, you know, there are — and certainly, you know, when the secretary has engaged with his counterpart, they do understand that there is a need to get aid into Gaza. And to — and to your point, you know, you don't want a tactical victory to be confused with strategic defeat, which is something that the secretary has spoken about.

So, absolutely the need to get aid in to the people of Gaza, that is strategic in and of itself. We need to — we — that needs to happen. We're not on the ground. You know, we did set up that maritime corridor over the summer to, you know, get aid in as fast as we could. We're working with the Israelis. As we've spoken about, they have opened more crossings so we are seeing more aid get in. Is it enough? No. More needs to get done, and that's what we're continuing to impress upon them.

Q: About the Russian missile attack, you said it — we pre-warned about it. Was that like it's not a nuclear attack warning or —

DEPUTY PRESS SECRETARY SINGH: It was in the — it was through the nuclear risk reduction channels, and we were briefly notified before the launch.

Wafa?

Q: Thank you, Sabina. I have two questions.

DEPUTY PRESS SECRETARY SINGH: Sure.

Q: First on Iraq, according to very trusty sources, Iraqi sources, Iran-backed groups are manufacturing drones and managing their operations against Israel from Sinjar. Do you have any indication that confirms this? And also, do you have indication that Israel is getting closer to target or attack these groups in Iraq?

DEPUTY PRESS SECRETARY SINGH: I don't have anything on Israel. I would refer you to them to speak to what they plan to do or any operations.

In terms of IAMG groups within Iraq, I mean, we've certainly seen them launch, you know, attacks on US forces, but also attacks towards Israel. In terms of what you're referencing and, like, production or things like that, I don't have any confirmation of that happening in Iraq.

What I can tell you is that Iran continues to supply these groups with what we've seen, whether it be drones, ammunition. You know, they — Iran is arming its proxies. How they do that and by what means, I mean, that's coming from Iran. But in terms of manufacturing facilities, I just don't — I don't have more for you on that.

Q: Ok. On Lebanon, since the United States recognizes Lebanon as a sovereign country, and tomorrow, by the way, is Lebanon Independence Day, does this department believe that the Lebanese Armed Forces have the same right as Israel to defend themselves, particularly after being targeted directly in recent days and losing more than a dozen of soldiers?

DEPUTY PRESS SECRETARY SINGH: We certainly are concerned by those reports. I mean, Lebanese Armed Forces are there to also protect their own citizens. We have — you know, have trained and equipped those forces to fight the threat of Hezbollah. But, again, I mean Israel is conducting operations on that northern border to weed out Hezbollah, which, you know, continues to launch rockets towards Israel on an almost daily basis. So, what we certainly want to see is those LAF forces, you know, protected and not get caught in the crossfire, and we've made that clear to our Israeli counterparts.

Q: Do they have the right to defend the country, to defend themselves, particularly in the context of a potential ceasefire deal between Israel and Lebanon?

DEPUTY PRESS SECRETARY SINGH: Well, if there's a ceasefire deal, there would be a cease to fighting, so of course we wouldn't want to see fighting on either side. And just to that point, you know, we have people in the region right now that are continuing to push forward for a ceasefire deal to be put in place.

And I'll say, you know, we are working up to the last — you know, the final months of this administration. We're going to continue to push every single day. But ultimately, as you mentioned, what's going to bring, you know, peace and allow people to return to their homes on that northern border is a ceasefire.

I'm going to go right here. Yeah.

Q: Sabrina, for Italian television. So, do you guys have a feeling of like sort of anti-Semitism towards Israel with this decision from the ICC, looking at all the effort that the US and European allies did to support Israel at the same time to support the Gaza — civilian in Gaza? But also — does it also — do you think — do you feel like there's been some — of course, it's hard to admit, but maybe some sort of lack of leadership lately from the US in trying to close the situation in Israel.

DEPUTY PRESS SECRETARY SINGH: No, I don't think there's been a lack of leadership. In fact, as I said, you know to Wafa, we have people in the region right now engaging on all sides to bring a ceasefire to that northern border in Lebanon, engaging to bring the hostages home in Gaza, pushing every single day to get aid into Gaza to the people that need it most.

I mean, we have an entire Central Command AOR which is engaging on a regular basis with their counterparts. So no, I don't actually think there's a lack of leadership. In fact, I think this is where you're seeing US leadership continue to push and to lead. And the president just wrapped up his trip overseas.

The secretary is concluding his trip in the Indo-Pacific you're seeing us continue to lead on the world stage. And so no, I would push back on that notion.

Q: decision, it seems like there is a lot of anti-Semitism toward Israel also.

DEPUTY PRESS SECRETARY SINGH: Yeah. I'm not going to speak on behalf of the court. That's not my job. I'd refer you to the court. I'm just not going to speak on behalf of the court.

Konstantin?

Q: Thanks, Sabrina. Going back to the attack in Ukraine, can you say how many missiles, IRBM missiles Russia launched? And can you confirm reports that the missiles had multiple warheads?

DEPUTY PRESS SECRETARY SINGH: I can't confirm either of those right now. We're still doing our assessment with the Ukrainians. So if we have more to share, we certainly will.

Q: OK. And then just to follow up on Charlie's question, obviously you've said that we got a pre-warning from Russia before the attack, but can you say whether any of the early detection systems that the US has to detect a launch like this picked up the launch, worked as intended?

DEPUTY PRESS SECRETARY SINGH: Yeah. I appreciate the question, but I'm just not going to go into those details. Thanks.

Q: Yeah, follow up on this. So just moments ago, White House press secretary said that the US briefed believed Ukraine and close allies in recent days to help them prepare. So what kind of knowledge do you have in advance? How detailed was that? And how exactly could Ukraine prepare for this kind of attack?

DEPUTY PRESS SECRETARY SINGH: So we did brief Ukraine and our partners and allies of the possibility that this could be used. Kind of to Konstantin's point, this gets to an intelligence assessment that I'm just not going to do from the podium.

Q: And another one, Putin said that Russia launched its missile as a message to the United States. He said that Russia considers itself entitled to use its weapons against the military facilities of those countries who support Ukraine with their weapons. What's your response to that?

DEPUTY PRESS SECRETARY SINGH: So we've seen this rhetoric before and again we've been, in private channels as well, very clear to Russia that the invasion of its sovereign neighbor was an escalatory action and is going to be met with a response on the global stage. And that's why you see over 50 countries coming together to support Ukraine with what it needs, including the United States.

So again, the escalatory action, I think fine to focus on his language and what he's saying, but the escalatory action began in 2022 when Russia invaded its neighbor.

Luis?

Q: Going back to the missile, the Ukrainian government seems to be identifying this as an ICBM. Can you tell us the distinction and why there is a difference or disconnect between the US assessment and the Ukrainian assessment?

DEPUTY PRESS SECRETARY SINGH: It's an initial assessment that they probably did. An IRBM and an ICBM, they can have similar flight paths. They can have high trajectories. They can carry large payloads, but the main difference lies in the range and the strategic purpose. And so I think probably an initial assessment was done, but of course that's just an initial assessment and once we were able to do more, we assessed that this was, or we know that it was an intermediate range ballistic missile.

Q: And at the top, you've mentioned that this is an experimental missile. What makes it experimental?

DEPUTY PRESS SECRETARY SINGH: What makes it experimental is that this was the first time it was used on the battlefield.

Q: Yeah. I have two questions please. One, when were the last time the secretary spoke with the Russian defense minister or what Russians are saying about this longest war now in recent history, is 1,000 days and war still going on?

DEPUTY PRESS SECRETARY SINGH: I'm sorry, I don't remember the exact date that the secretary spoke to his Russian counterpart, but we did put out a readout of that and that is available on Defense.gov. I want to say it was earlier this summer, but I'm sorry, I don't have that off the top of my head.

Q: Second question. As far as North Korea's support for Russia against Ukraine, some reports are saying that if you can confirm that who is behind North Korea helping Russia, is it China, is playing the games or helping Russia through North Korea?

DEPUTY PRESS SECRETARY SINGH: Yeah. So I'm not going to speak on behalf of North Korea, but I think North Korea has shown its ability to make its own decisions and supporting Russia in its war. Certainly, we've engaged our PRC counterparts when it comes to what's happening on the battlefield in Ukraine. But I think North Korea has certainly demonstrated that they want to support Russia in its continuing war. And if that means sending off 11,000 soldiers to die on the battlefield, then so be it.

Q: Just a quick, speaking with the Chinese counterparts and all that, what are they saying or what is their reaction on this Ukraine and Russia war and now North Korea involved?

DEPUTY PRESS SECRETARY SINGH: Yeah. I'm certainly not going to be the spokesperson for the PRC. Yeah, in the back. Yeah, and then I'll come to Idris.

Q: I wanted to ask a question about the anti-personnel mines.

DEPUTY PRESS SECRETARY SINGH: Sure.

Q: Can you confirm that those were included in the package yesterday and are you expecting to send multiple tranches of those?

DEPUTY PRESS SECRETARY SINGH: They were included in the most recent drawdown. In terms of further packages, I just don't have more to preview, but we've made a commitment. Could they be provided in future packages, sure, but I just don't have anything to preview right now.

Q: Can you also detail at all how much oversight there is going to be on tracking those and how they're used in Ukraine?

DEPUTY PRESS SECRETARY SINGH: Well, so once our equipment or any capabilities turned over to Ukraine, we work with them, and they give us assurances of how they're used. Ukraine has given us the assurances that they're going to be used on the Ukrainian territory, but it doesn't change the requirement that Ukraine is going to have to conduct a massive demining effort at the end of this war to remove any unexploded ordnance both from the landmines that Russia has put in place and also to anything else that has been used on the battlefield.

We've already seen them conduct this type of operation in some of the territory that they've recaptured, but the US is committed to supporting them and to helping them with what they need in those demining efforts. But absolutely, they have committed that they're going to use these mines in their own territory. And I should have added that they're not going to use them in populated areas.

Q: So there's no additional tracking in addition to what would be with other equipment?

DEPUTY PRESS SECRETARY SINGH: We're not tracking it in terms of where they place them, but certainly we are going to—they have given us their assurances that they will be employed in a way that protects civilians as well.

Idris?

Q: On Luis, answered Luis’ question, you said it was experimental because it was the first time it was used.

DEPUTY PRESS SECRETARY SINGH: It was the first time we've ever seen it used on the battlefield. That's correct.

Q: So was this an experiment or a test that they carried out, or is it now operational, I guess?

DEPUTY PRESS SECRETARY SINGH: Sure. Sorry, I didn't mean to not expand more on Luis' question. That's really for Russia to speak to, if they consider this a test. The way we would consider this experimental in that this is the first time we've seen this type of capability used. We haven't seen them use this previously and—

Q: it's a new capability then. Experimental sounds like it might be developed, it might not be developed.

DEPUTY PRESS SECRETARY SINGH: Well, this is like where I would refer you—I can't say it's a new capability in that it is building on a capability that they have. As I said, it was based on the RS-26 but it's the first time that we've seen it employed on the battlefield in this way. So that's why we consider it experimental.

But again, for Russia, characterizing it as a test or do we expect them to use this again, that's not something I can really answer.

Q: other IRBM capabilities?

DEPUTY PRESS SECRETARY SINGH: I just don't have more for you right now.

Fadi?

Q: Is this missile capable of carrying a nuclear warhead?

DEPUTY PRESS SECRETARY SINGH: It could be refitted to certainly carry different types of conventional or nuclear warheads, but again, that's all I can share with you today.

Q: Thank you.

DEPUTY PRESS SECRETARY SINGH: OK. Thanks, everyone.