FPC TRANSCRIPT: Reforming the UN Security Council with Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield
Downloadable video and photos of this briefing for use in reporting can be found here:
FOREIGN PRESS CENTER BRIEFING WITH LINDA THOMAS-GREENFIELD, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO THE UNITED NATIONS
LINK/TOPIC: REFORMING THE UNITED NATIONS SECURITY COUNCIL
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2024, 2:00 P.M. EDT
THE WASHINGTON FOREIGN PRESS CENTER, WASHINGTON, D.C.
MODERATOR: Good afternoon, all, and thank you for joining us here at the Washington Foreign Press Center. My name is Leah Knobel and I’ll be the moderator for today’s briefing. It’s my pleasure to introduce Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield, United States Ambassador to the United Nations. A reminder that this briefing is on the record and the transcript, video, and photos will be posted to our website later today.
And with that, I will invite the Ambassador to begin with her opening remarks.
AMBASSADOR THOMAS-GREENFIELD: Good afternoon, everyone. One week ago I had the opportunity to deliver a keynote address at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York City. In it I discussed the progress the Biden-Harris administration has made and will continue to make to create a UN that is fit for purpose, ready to meet the challenges and the opportunities of the 21st century. I walked through some of the efforts we’ve championed to reform the multilateral system, from how we finance and deploy peacekeeping operations to how we ensure our humanitarian and our developments efforts are effective and efficient.
And I announced our support for key changes to the composition of the United Nations Security Council. This is a process that began two years ago when President Biden shared that the United States supports expanding the council to include permanent representation for countries from Africa as well as Latin America and the Caribbean. That’s in addition to the countries we’ve long supported for permanent seats: India, Japan, and Germany. In the months following the President’s announcement, I met with dozens of countries in New York in what I like to call a listening tour. I listened to their ideas and their aspirations for a more inclusive, representative Security Council.
And now we head into the final High-Level Week of the Biden-Harris administration with three new commitments for Council reform. First, that the United States supports creating two permanent seats for Africans on the council. Second, that the United States supports creating a new elected seat on the Security Council for Small Island Developing States. And third, the United States is ready to take actions on these reforms and pursue a text-based negotiation; in other words, to put our principles to paper and begin the process of amending the United Nations Charter.
Over the past week, I’ve heard from so many leaders across the United Nations and in fact from across the world and the multilateral system more broadly. One partner called these proposals “seismic” and others have expressed strong support for our announcement. And even those who don’t agree with every aspect of our proposal understand that the United States putting our stake in the ground is a big, big deal. So there’s a sense of genuine excitement that meaningful progress really is possible, and there’s a renewed sense of purpose to make it happen. It’s a testament to the power of the United States’ leadership and it’s a reminder that while diplomacy is hard and diplomacy about diplomacy is even harder, we can do hard things. We can think beyond what has been, push ourselves to create a system that meets this moment and the opportunities of the future.
So with that, I am ready to take a few questions. Thank you.
MODERATOR: Thank you, Ambassador. We’ll now take questions. Please introduce yourself and your outlet when I call on you. We’ll start with Dmytro in front, and also we’re using microphones today, so please wait to ask your question.
QUESTION: Thank you very much, Ambassador. Thank you very much, Foreign Press Center, for organizing this. It’s priceless. Ma’am, on Ukraine if I may. Firstly, the High-Level Week is always about Ukraine. I know it will be the Security Council on the 24th. Yesterday speaking to journalists in New York, you told you do have some hope to make some progress on Ukraine. So can you give us an understanding about the Ukrainian dimension of those days? And secondly if I may, the – Ukraine is asking the United Nations to verify the situation in the areas of Russia’s Kursk region controlled by Kyiv to prove adherence to international humanitarian law. Do you – do you have any comment on this? What is the position of the United States? Thanks so very much.
AMBASSADOR THOMAS-GREENFIELD: On next week, we do intend to focus attention on the situation in Ukraine. We’ve called for the special meeting of the Security Council on the 24th. And as you know, President Zelenskyy will be in town and there will be a number of side meetings on Ukraine. Our goal is to keep Ukraine on the front burner of the agenda. Russia’s unprovoked war on Ukraine continues. They are not making any efforts to end this war. And it’s in their – it’s really in their power to end this war by withdrawing from Ukraine.
So we intend to keep the pressure on Russia during next week’s Security Council. And we do know that Russia is committing violations, and we’ve called upon the UN and others to investigate those violations. I don’t have any additional information on the plans of the United Nations.
MODERATOR: Okay, I’ll go to Diyar – second row, gray jacket.
QUESTION: Thank you so much. Thank you so much, Ambassador, for doing this. My name is Diyar Kurda. I’m working for Rudaw TV; it’s a Kurdish TV. The first question, speaking of the Middle East and recent incidents in Lebanon: While the U.S. are trying to minimize and also trying to calm down the situation and reaching a ceasefire deal, but on the other side we see these incidents that we saw yesterday in Lebanon and today as well, which a dozen people killed and also a dozen other – dozen peoples were injured. Do you have any fear that this will jeopardize the U.S.’s position in the Middle East and also jeopardize all the efforts that have been taken to calm down the situation? And I have another question.
AMBASSADOR THOMAS-GREENFIELD: Well, certainly we are not trying to minimize the situation that occurred in Lebanon. We know that the situation is still under investigation, but in no way are we minimizing that. And as the Secretary said in his remarks yesterday, we discourage any escalation of the situation on the ground. We want both sides to try to keep us from moving into another conflict, spreading this conflict beyond the – beyond where it is now. And we’re still working on trying to get through the negotiations on the cessation of hostilities in Gaza. We want the hostages released. We want calm in Gaza so additional humanitarian assistance can be delivered to the suffering people in Gaza.
QUESTION: And second question: Talking about the threats coming from terrorism, especially ISIS, we saw in the recent days and weeks they increased their attacks in Syria, in Kurdistan, and also in Iraq. But while we see these incidents, we see the U.S. and Iraq are talking about ending the coalition forces in Iraq, and the Iraqi Government – which the Iraqi prime minister said that we are going to announce by the end of this month. Does the U.S. support the end of the coalition forces in Iraq and the U.S. withdrawal in the current situation that we see ISIS still poses a threat on your interests and also on your allies and also on your friends in the region?
AMBASSADOR THOMAS-GREENFIELD: Look, discussions are still taking place with the Iraqi Government on that issue in particular, but we will always continue to defend our interests until we’re – we’ve pulled out of Iraq. And so the attacks that we are experiencing will be a source of concern for us, and certainly we will respond.
MODERATOR: We have limited time with the ambassador today, so please keep your questions brief and only ask one question. We’ll go to this side of the room now – white buttoned-up shirt. Thank you.
QUESTION: Hi. Thank you, Ambassador. My name is Johanna Roth. I’m with Zeit Online from Germany. You just spoke of the potential for escalation in that conflict, and what do you make of the recent statement by the Israeli administration that this is a new era, quote/unquote, “new era” of this conflict focusing more on the north, and how might that affect the meeting next week in --
AMBASSADOR THOMAS-GREENFIELD: I mean, I think I have to refer you to the Israelis to explain what they meant by that statement. But certainly over the course of next week, we will be engaging on intense discussions with all of our allies, our partners, as well as others on how to de-escalate and bring an end to this conflict.
MODERATOR: Okay, we’ll go to Alex in the front.
QUESTION: Thank you so much, Ambassador. Alex Raufoglu from news agency Turan. Two very quick questions. Let me get your fresh reaction to Finland’s request to remove Russia from UN Security Council? And --
AMBASSADOR THOMAS-GREENFIELD: I’m sorry, whose?
QUESTION: Finland requested to remove Russia from UN Security Council and to take away Russia’s voting right. Your fresh reaction to that?
And second question: Given this – the fact that this is going to be the last UNGA for this administration, and given the fact that you have been championing democracy summits, how much democracy – decline in democracy in Eastern Europe and some other regions will be a part of this summit? Georgia is in my mind, but just (inaudible) other countries as well.
AMBASSADOR THOMAS-GREENFIELD: Well, I hadn’t heard, to be honest, about Finland’s request to have Russia removed from the Security Council. This is a subject that the Ukrainians have brought up on a regular basis as well. Russia is a permanent member of the Security Council who has attacked its neighbor and really attacked all the values of the UN Charter. So having committed those actions, I could see why countries might question why Russia should be on the Security Council.
And I’m not sure I understood your question on democracy, the democracy summit.
QUESTION: (Off-mike.)
AMBASSADOR THOMAS-GREENFIELD: Well, I mean, I think for us democracy anywhere is going to be a part of any discussions we have in the summit. We think the Summit of* Democracy has been extraordinarily successful. We want to continue to encourage those countries who are still standing strong as democracies and build – help boost those countries where we start to see backsliding. And there are some countries that we have seen backsliding.
MODERATOR: Okay. We’ll go to David Smith.
QUESTION: Hi, David Smith of the Guardian. Just wondered if you could talk a bit about the proposal for two African seats on the UN Security Council. Is it possible sometimes those would be non-democratic countries, and does that concern you?
And then a second question: Just generally interested in your reflections on the U.S.’s relationship with African countries, and is there still a perceived struggle there with China for influence?
AMBASSADOR THOMAS-GREENFIELD: Look, Africa – the Africans will choose their two seats on the Security Council. It’s not for us to make that choice. And then they have to be voted on in the General Assembly and supported by – broadly by the Security Council. We have countries on the Security Council that are sometimes not democracies, but I would hope that in making its choices for the Security Council that African countries will choose countries that will be able to represent their – broadly their interest.
And I’m sorry, the second question?
QUESTION: Just your reflections more generally on U.S. influence in Africa, and many people talk about a big competition there with China.
AMBASSADOR THOMAS-GREENFIELD: Look, I have been working on Africa for almost 40 years. I served as the assistant secretary for Africa during the Obama administration. And our relationships across Africa are good. And while there’s always this sense that we’re competing with China on Africa, we have been actively working with Africans on the continent since the beginning. We were one of the first countries to – I think we were even the first country to recognize Ghana. And we continue to have close relationships across the board with African countries. We’re not telling African countries that they can’t choose to have relations with China. That’s a choice that they have to make. What we have to do is be able to give them a choice.
MODERATOR: We’re going to do fourth row, gray jacket, white shirt. Okay.
QUESTION: Thank you. Aziz Rami for the Moroccan press agency. I want to go back to the U.S. relations with African countries. Recently you and the Kingdom of Morocco have co-sponsored a resolution on AI for development. We see today that AI is being used for entertainment, but also for lethal goals. Do you – can you just tell us where your – this – the implementation of this resolution is, and do you think that really AI can – and how can it be used for sustainable development? Thank you.
MODERATOR: Did you introduce yourself?
AMBASSADOR THOMAS-GREENFIELD: Thank you so much for asking that question, because AI is really a very high priority for us. We will be doing several events over the course of High-Level Week and leading up to our presidency in the Security Council in December. We co-sponsored – in fact, drafted a resolution on AI that got wide support across the board in the General Assembly. Our goal is for AI to be used for good, is for AI to support the Sustainable Development Goals, and we think that AI can support those goals. And we want to work to bridge the digital divide so that the technology around AI can be used to support countries that are not as developed as others, so that people across the world can use and benefit from the use of AI.
MODERATOR: We’re going to take one more question in the room. We’ll go up front here, the striped tie.
QUESTION: Thank you so very much, Ambassador. Deeply appreciate it. And thank you so very much, Foreign Press Center, for this opportunity. My name is Aref Yaqubi from Afghanistan International. As you may know, today the Security Council had a meeting on Afghanistan. And it seems that the permanent members of Security Council, including United States, has deep and serious differences or disagreements with China and Russia over Afghanistan. And the situation in Afghanistan is quite dire, as you know much better. So what are the main challenges? And when the permanent members of Security Council may agree upon some things that had promised before, like introducing a special representative for Afghanistan, and the situation of women and girls in Afghanistan? Thank you.
AMBASSADOR THOMAS-GREENFIELD: Well, you basically laid out the differences – one, the last comment you made on the treatment of women and girls. We have seen the situation for women and girls in Afghanistan continue to worsen under the Taliban. And we think we need to do more to hold them accountable, but also to push them to change. They cannot continue to live in a world where women are being sidelined in society, 50 percent of their population not contributing to their countries. And this is certainly a huge difference that we have with China and Russia, raising issues of human rights before we recognize a Taliban government.
And then the issue of the special envoy, we are very supportive of there being a special envoy, and we have encouraged the UN to move forward in appointing that person so that there is direct engagement inside of Afghanistan with the powers that need to encourage them to move in the direction that they can be accepted by the rest of the world. And at this point, they’re not there.
MODERATOR: Thank you. We’re going to take one question online before ending today. Andrés Fidanza, can you please unmute yourself, turn on your microphone, and introduce yourself and your question?
QUESTION: Hi, thank you very much. I’m Andrés Fidanza from El Observador, an outlet from Argentina and Uruguay. My question is about Venezuela. I want a reflection about the crisis there that seems paralyzed – it’s like the sanction on the Maduro government – and if the issue is going to be discussed at the summit and what are your expectation about it? Thank you very much.
AMBASSADOR THOMAS-GREENFIELD: Thank you so much for that question. You may be aware that a little over a week ago, we stood at the podium with the foreign minister of Panama to support their expression – and in fact there were probably 30 or 40 countries, if not more, standing there with him – our concerns about the situation in Venezuela: what is happening with the opposition; the fact that Maduro stole the election from the opposition, and that is the view that is held across the board. And we do want to engage on this in New York during High-Level Week, and I know that there are countries who will be raising this as a concern, and we will have meetings related to that.
MODERATOR: Thank you. This concludes our briefing today. Thank you, Madam Ambassador, and to you all for joining us. Thank you.
AMBASSADOR THOMAS-GREENFIELD: Thank you very much.
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