Farm in colorado. This is about 45 minutes. Good morning, everyone. His its wonderful to be back in aspen, especially after such a Great Program all week, much to do with secretary blinken. I think this is your first time here since becoming secretary, so that is a wonderful treat for all of us. It is not as though a lot has not been happening and you have been traveling all over the world, around the world several times just in the last two weeks and you are about to part to depart again. We are glad we caught you in between. Me ask you a couple of things about things that have been breaking most recently this week. We have all heard about private 2nd class travis king in north korea. I want to know if there is anything new about where he is being held. Have there been any new communications between us or our allies who have Better Communications with pyongyang about his conditions and how they are treating him . Secretary blinken first, it is wonderful to see you, as always. It is particularly great to be back in aspen with the security form. I have spent many happy and informative hours here with many ends and colleagues, so thank you for that. With regard to travis king, unfortunately, i dont have any further information to share. We are very concerned, of course, about his wellbeing. We like to know his whereabouts. We have communicated to north korea seeking that information. I dont have anything more at this point. We all recall the tragedy of auto warm beer otto warmbier. Their concerns he could be tortured . North korea has rapidly increased their missile and Nuclear Programs. When was the last time we had any communication . Secretary blinken we have channels of communication. We have used them. We made clear that we were prepared to have negotiations with north korea on the Nuclear Program with no preconditions. We said that message several times. Heres the response we got one Missile Launch after another. We have not stood still. The partnership, the alliance we have with japan and with south korea has grown even stronger, even deeper, and we have taken further steps to make sure we can defend ourselves, defend our allies and partners, deter any aggression coming from north korea. In effect, the response that north korea has elicited with these repeated provocations has only been to solidify the work that the United States, korea, and japan are doing together to make sure we can defend ourselves. Ms. Mitchell there was a time not long ago when china was actually helpful behind the scenes when an american crossed the chinese border. Is there any hope now that china , with relations not that close, might helpful . Secretary blinken this is a conversation i have had directly with my chinese counterparts, particularly what chinas role could and should be in helping to bring north korea to the table on its Nuclear Program, helping us advance a shared vision for denuclearization on the korean peninsula, and what i have shared with chinese counterparts is this we believe that you have unique influence, and we hope that you will use it to get better cooperation from north korea, but if you cannot or if you will not, we will have to continue to take steps that are not directed to china but that china probably will not like because it goes to strengthening our differences but those of not only our own defenses but those of north korea and japan. We have seen an extraordinary relationship develop over several administrations now on a trilateral basis among the United States, japan, and korea. That has only gotten stronger. Ms. Mitchell speaking of china, the chinese pack china has hacked Nicholas Burns emails. Im told reliably by former cyber officials and other experts that 90 of the government is done in unclassified space. They were able to learn in a novel way, which is very alarming, a lot about our business. Is there some indication that this was going on for quite some time because of how novel their approach was . That they could learn our strategy as you were approaching a reestablishment of relations on your trip to beijing. Secretary blinken first, you are exactly right, i cannot speak to the direct impact of any particular incident, but i can say the incident in question affected only our unclassified system. Ms. Mitchell thats a big deal. The unclassified system is huge. Secretary blinken we have an ongoing investigation. As soon as we detected, which goes back sometimes, we took steps to make sure we were strengthening our defenses. We reported immediately to microsoft, to make sure they were doing everything possible. I have had opportunities to speak directly to chinese counterparts about the deep concern we would have over anything targeting the u. S. Government, targeting u. S. Companies, targeting u. S. Citizens, and the fact that we will take appropriate action if we need to in response. Ms. Mitchell are you concerned about our vulnerabilities . Secretary blinken this is a constant effort, as you know. As we all live in cyberspace. So much of our life is in cyberspace. Of course it is a constant concern. There is an ongoing effort quite literally every single day to make sure all of our systems are as strong and protected as they can be. Ms. Mitchell isnt this a basic attack on our sovereignty . Where do you draw the line . Secretary blinken again, what we have had occasion to share more than once with china is the concern that anything targeting the government, targeting citizens, targeting companies is a real concern for us, and we have in the past and will in the future take appropriate action necessary. I cannot say more at this point, especially as we have an ongoing investigation. We need to learn the full impact even as we have taken steps to ensure our information is protected. Ms. Mitchell speaking again of china, secretary kerry just completed his mission and has failed to get china to agree to any copper misys agree to any reduction of emissions. This makes it clear that before the big global summit in the emirates in november, there wont be any progress towards the goals that are much delayed. Secretary blinken first, the purpose of johns trip was not to get an agreement, not to get some concrete deliverable. The purpose was to renew the conversation, the dialogue have been having with china on the planet. They are the Worlds Largest emitter. We are number two. The only place where im happy to be number two to china. Ms. Mitchell they alone are emitting more than all the developed nations combined. Secretary blinken thats right. Which only underscores the importance of china taking urgent action to deal with its emissions. I think what secretary kerry, what john conveyed was a sense of urgency. We are in a position where every g7 country has adopted plans that if implemented would hold Global Warming to 1. 5 degrees celsius. The same cannot be said of the g20, the g13, beyond the g7. We are trying to help countries, encourage countries, prod countries to make the necessary progress to adopt the necessary targets and plans and implement them. We have made the single largest investment in history in combating Climate Change through the inflation reduction act. We have demonstrated that we are serious about this, and we will have the tools to make good on our commitments. Heres what i think when it comes to china, if it wants to be seen as a responsible leader globally, it has to be responsive to the signals it is getting from the region from around the world. One of those demand signals, and certainly that will be the case at cup 28, is for it to take the necessary actions to curb emissions and to do what is necessary to get to 1. 5 degrees celsius. This is an important conversation. I think it is important john went and renewed dialogue but also conveyed a sense of urgency. The last thing i will say is this i think if youre sitting in beijings shoes, you are looking at this challenge on the one hand and on the other hand, i think the imperatives they feel to focus on growth, on economic growth, they did not have the rebound they anticipated getting out of covid. I think for china right now, that is job number one, but there is a real tension between that and the absolute imperative dealing urgently with the climate challenge. Ms. Mitchell which we are all feeling in the u. S. And all over the world is becoming reality. Let me ask you about what russia is doing, bombing grain silos, canceling the grain agreement. This is going to increase famine around the world. Food prices are going to go up, and theres real concern about russia claiming a false flag as they mind the black sea mine the black sea. Is there anyway that nato can escort ships through . How do we get the grain out quickly . Secretary blinken lets first put this into perspective. The black Sea Green Initiative never should have been necessary in the first place. The only reason it had to happen was because russia invaded ukraine and having invaded ukraine decided to blockaded sports decided to blockade its ports. So the united nations, turkey helped initiate this effort. The results over about a year was to get 35 million tons of food product out to the rest of the world, predominantly to the developing world. 50 of the Food Products at least going to the developing world. 2 3 of the week. That meant people were getting food on the table. It meant even countries that were not directly receiving Food Products from ukraine were getting lower prices because it is a world market. Russia, by weaponizing food, is doing something truly unconscionable. Throughout this period when the initiative was working, that 35 million tons equates to about 18 billion loaves of bread. Imagine what that means every single day to People Living throughout the developing world. I hope the world is watching this and seeing how russia is cynically manipulating food in order to advance its objectives in ukraine. To your question, we are working with allies and partners in ukraine to look at other options, but i have to tell you, i dont think its possible to make up the volumes lost by ending this Initiative Group other routes, so we are going to do our best, but this has put a deep chill on shipping. In the four days since they have ended their participation in this arrangement, what have they done, russia . They bombed every single day the odessa port. They laid more mines. They threaten shipping in fact, they did an exercise just yesterday that they publicize where they simulated an attack on a ship. What does that tell you about their intentions . What does that tell you about the lack of any basic decency when it comes to getting food where it needs to go . Ms. Mitchell theres no way commercial shipping can proceed. Secretary blinken it is very difficult because for the shippers and insurers, given the threats more than the threats, the actions russia has taken over the last few nights, it would be very hard to operate in that environment. We are looking for solutions, but i just dont think we can make up the volume. Ms. Mitchell what about the false flag . Secretary blinken we have raised real concerns about that. I think you have heard bill burns talk about that, john kirby. This is part and partial of the part and parcel of the russian playbook. At the united nations, we laid out in detail the kind of false flag operations they would conduct in anticipation of the attack. It is exactly what they did. We called them on it. The world knew about it. We want to make sure people see what this is if it happens for what it is. Ms. Mitchell how concerned are you about the counteroffensive, which is bogged down . Secretary blinken these are still relatively early days. We have said from the start we have known from the start this would be hard going. You have heard a number of people talk about that. The russians have laid serious and significant differences when it comes to mines initially. Ukraine is working their way through that. I believe they have what they need to be successful. As they deploy and as they actually put into this effort all of the forces that have been trained in recent months, the equipment that we and some 50 countries have provided them, i think that will make a profound difference, but here is what makes the ultimate difference the ultimate difference is unlike the russians, they are fighting for their land. They are fighting for their country, for their future, for their freedom. That is the single biggest difference maker that i think we have already seen. They have taken back 50 of the territory russia already seized. Ms. Mitchell how weakened do you think Vladimir Putin is by the aborted rebellion . Secretary blinken it is hard for us to know for sure and hard to and probably wrong to speculate. I think what we can say safely is we have seen cracks emerge in the facade. The fact that prigozhin made at that to putins authority and publicly questioned the reasoning for the invasion of ukraine, we have seen that play out. We have seen their forces moved to belarus. Wherever wagner goes, exploitation, death and destruction inevitably follow. We dont know how this will play out. If i were mr. Prigozhin, i would remain very concerned. Nato has an opendoor policy. Russia has and opens windows an openwindows policy. They need to be concerned about that. [laughter] [applause] ms. Mitchell are there any signals from moscow that they are open to a trade for paul whelen prior to the inevitable conviction on false charges and sentencing, which would be months and months to come . Evan gershkovich has been held already and paul has been there already five years. Secretary blinken one of the things we have found dealing with countries that have arbitrarily detained american, is that even if we have profound differences, we are still often able to work discreetly and separately on efforts to bring americans home. Since President Biden has been in office, we brought 29 americans who were being arbitrarily detained home from eight or nine different countries, all countries with which we have very different public relations. This is something on which we continue to work irrespective of what else is going on and we will continue to do that. Ms. Mitchell is another country offering someone now that might be helpful in a trade . Secretary blinken we are constantly looking at what it might take, what it might involve to get the result we want. I cannot go further than that, but i can tell you this is something we are doing day in, day out. Our determination is to bring people home. Ms. Mitchell the House Foreign AffairsCommittee Chair is calling for President Biden to appoint a special envoy for peace talks over ukraine now. Are you open to that . Secretary blinken if we saw any evidence that russia was interested in having meaningful peace talks, we would be the first to jump on it well, maybe the second because i suspect the ukrainians would be first. No one wants this over more quickly than the ukrainians. They have been on the receiving end of russias aggression every day. Unfortunately, i see zero evidence of russias interest. Present putin continues to believe he can outlast ukraine and all of ukraines supporters. It is vitally important we disabuse them of that notion. I goes to the support we provide right now and so goes to something we did just a couple weeks ago at the vilnius summit. Countries came together to say they were going to make a longterm commitment to ukraines security, help them build up over time its deterrent and defense capacity so russia could not repeat this exercise. That sends a very strong signal to Vladimir Putin that we are not going anywhere. Ukraine is not going anywhere, and it will have the means to defend itself. If there is a change in president putins mindset when it comes to this, maybe there will be an opening. Right now, we dont see it. Ms. Mitchell President Biden has made a very Public Statement by inviting tom friedman into the oval office and basically saying that Prime Minister netanyahu should not pass those Supreme Court changes. I should point out that air force reservists are for the first time not even showing up duty. This is something that has never happened before. And that he should think about the threat to israeli democracy with such a divide. Why was it so important for President Biden to make such a Public Appeal to the Prime Minister . Secretary lincoln the president is saying publicly what he shared privately on several occasions with different leaders in israel. Ive had the opportunity to do the same thing. We come to this from a place where, of course, we have the unique relationship, unique partnership with israel spanning decades. President biden more than anyone i know is in his gut committed to israels security, and that will never change, but as such close partners and friends, we share the concerns we have with israel, and i think it is also one of our own experience as democracies. This is what joins us together fundamentally. As democracies, we know we are trying to make major changes that have a big societal impact. The best way to do it is by trying to build consensus or as close as possible if you want those changes to be durable. I think you have seen israeli democracy in all of its vibrancy , it is telling a remarkable story right now. Thats playing out, and im confident the system will be able to deal effectively with it. Ms. Mitchell when we first went to that first nato meeting and President Bidens message was america is back, and now we see such division, so much partisanship, no longer the bipartisanship that i grew up with on Foreign Policy as you look back at what you have accomplished in the first two years and look forward to doing this in an election climate, what are your overall goals, the bigger goals . Secretary blinken first, that me say from my perspective in terms of our strength at home and standing around the world, we are unquestionably in a much better place than we were a few years ago. The investments we have made it home on a bipartisan basis in infrastructu