US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Wendy R. Sherman spoke about the attack on the US consulate in Iraq, the war in Ukraine, and relations between Russia and China.
Wendy Sherman spoke about all this in an interview with Bret Baier from the Fox News Sunday morning TV show.
Sherman spoke about the 12 ballistic missiles fired at the US consulate in Iraq from Iran, noting that it was a very disturbing attack.
“We are very pleased that our facilities are well protected, that no one was injured or killed. But all this causes great concern. I am sure that there will be a statement soon, as well as appeals. It was an attack on Iraqi sovereignty. We will be watching this closely,” Sherman said.
Sherman added that she was very glad that their facility was well protected and no one was hurt, the main thing for them is the safety of the Americans.
Sherman was also asked about the perpetrators of the attack. The department has evidence against the Iranians, but the Biden administration is reluctant to publicly indict the men for fear it could derail their push for the Iran nuclear deal now nearing completion in Vienna.
– Yes it's true. We have a responsibility to protect American citizens. We do this on a daily basis, and this applies to all current and past US officials, and this is our highest priority,” said Wendy Sherman.
Brest Bayer also mentioned night attacks on Western Ukraine.
“This situation is very tragic for the Ukrainian people. I think we all spend every day just terrified of the suffering of this people. As your reporter said, he was in cities where it's just awful, especially in Mariupol. There, people will either starve to death or freeze to death or die because they do not have medicines. It's really horror.
Sherman noted that now they have two goals. The first is to support Ukraine in every possible way. Indeed, since the Biden administration began operating, $1.2 billion has been allocated to Ukraine.
The second is to put tremendous pressure on Vladimir Putin to try to change his plans, stop this war, achieve a ceasefire in the first place, get humanitarian corridors and stop this invasion.
“That pressure is starting to have an effect. We see some signs of a willingness to engage in real, serious negotiations. But I must say, while it turns out that Vladimir Putin intends to destroy Ukraine. We must help the Ukrainians with all our might.
Asked whether Russia-China relations have been strengthened as a result of this invasion, Sherman replied that this is still an open question.
“We have seen Russia and China come closer, before the Olympics of course, by issuing a long manifesto about their partnership and how they are going to move forward together. And at the same time, we have seen that China is quite cautious about invading a sovereign country.
The People's Republic of China has often said that sovereignty is key, territorial integrity is key, that countries should decide their political future. We agree with these principles. We hope China does the same,” Sherman says.
Wendy Sherman noted that in two weeks Vladimir Putin crossed out 30 years of economic development . There was an international order that was supported by both China and Russia, which helped – both countries developed. For Russia, this is not the case now.
