٠٠:٠٢:٢٨Mandatory credit: US Department of State
United States Secretary of State declared that the current position of Washington 'is not a good place' in an Aspen Security Forum fireside chat moderated by host Mary Louise Kelly of National Public Radio in Colorado.
He explained by saying that Iran was 'thrown out' due to the nuclear agreement and it is 'probably one or two weeks' away from having the breakout capacity of producing fissile material instead of a year.
"They haven’t produced a weapon itself, but that’s something of course, that we track very, very carefully," he said.
As for Ukraine, he noted that it is being 'increasingly integrated with the West', and that NATO is 'stronger and larger than it ever been'.
"More than 20 countries come together on the margins of the summit to announce that they negotiated and signed 10-year bilateral security agreements with Ukraine. And that means that all these countries, including the United States, have committed to help Ukraine for the next decade build up its deterrent capacity, build up its defences," Blinken said.
Speaking about China, he emphasised that the country's position is 'uncomfortable' due to associated backing of Russia in conflict with Ukraine.
"We do have a challenge, which is China is providing, not weapons, unlike North Korea and Iran, but it is providing the inputs through Russia's defence industrial base. 70 per cent of the machine tools that Russia is importing come from China," he added.
Blinken also highlighted China's role in the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, commenting that 'China cannot have it both ways'.
"China cannot all at once be saying it is for peace in Ukraine when it is helping to fuel the ongoing pursuit of the war by Russia. It can't say that it wants better relations with Europe when it is actually helping to fuel the greatest threat to Europe security since the end of the Cold War," he concluded.
In recent months, US and European leaders have accused China of strengthening Russia's defence sector through the export of dual-use goods. Beijing has denied supplying any weaponry, asserting that it maintains strict controls over such exports.
Beijing also stated that seeing "China as NATO's imaginary enemy will only backfire on NATO itself," addressing 'provocative' and 'irresponsible' remarks from NATO leaders.
The Aspen Security Forum is a prominent conference on national security and foreign policy in the US, bringing together domestic and international leaders to discuss critical global issues.
'Where we are now is not a good place' - Blinken says Iran is '1 to 2 weeks' from nuclear weapon breakout, China's 'very uncomfortable' in its position
United States Secretary of State declared that the current position of Washington 'is not a good place' in an Aspen Security Forum fireside chat moderated by host Mary Louise Kelly of National Public Radio in Colorado.
He explained by saying that Iran was 'thrown out' due to the nuclear agreement and it is 'probably one or two weeks' away from having the breakout capacity of producing fissile material instead of a year.
"They haven’t produced a weapon itself, but that’s something of course, that we track very, very carefully," he said.
As for Ukraine, he noted that it is being 'increasingly integrated with the West', and that NATO is 'stronger and larger than it ever been'.
"More than 20 countries come together on the margins of the summit to announce that they negotiated and signed 10-year bilateral security agreements with Ukraine. And that means that all these countries, including the United States, have committed to help Ukraine for the next decade build up its deterrent capacity, build up its defences," Blinken said.
Speaking about China, he emphasised that the country's position is 'uncomfortable' due to associated backing of Russia in conflict with Ukraine.
"We do have a challenge, which is China is providing, not weapons, unlike North Korea and Iran, but it is providing the inputs through Russia's defence industrial base. 70 per cent of the machine tools that Russia is importing come from China," he added.
Blinken also highlighted China's role in the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, commenting that 'China cannot have it both ways'.
"China cannot all at once be saying it is for peace in Ukraine when it is helping to fuel the ongoing pursuit of the war by Russia. It can't say that it wants better relations with Europe when it is actually helping to fuel the greatest threat to Europe security since the end of the Cold War," he concluded.
In recent months, US and European leaders have accused China of strengthening Russia's defence sector through the export of dual-use goods. Beijing has denied supplying any weaponry, asserting that it maintains strict controls over such exports.
Beijing also stated that seeing "China as NATO's imaginary enemy will only backfire on NATO itself," addressing 'provocative' and 'irresponsible' remarks from NATO leaders.
The Aspen Security Forum is a prominent conference on national security and foreign policy in the US, bringing together domestic and international leaders to discuss critical global issues.
Mandatory credit: US Department of State
United States Secretary of State declared that the current position of Washington 'is not a good place' in an Aspen Security Forum fireside chat moderated by host Mary Louise Kelly of National Public Radio in Colorado.
He explained by saying that Iran was 'thrown out' due to the nuclear agreement and it is 'probably one or two weeks' away from having the breakout capacity of producing fissile material instead of a year.
"They haven’t produced a weapon itself, but that’s something of course, that we track very, very carefully," he said.
As for Ukraine, he noted that it is being 'increasingly integrated with the West', and that NATO is 'stronger and larger than it ever been'.
"More than 20 countries come together on the margins of the summit to announce that they negotiated and signed 10-year bilateral security agreements with Ukraine. And that means that all these countries, including the United States, have committed to help Ukraine for the next decade build up its deterrent capacity, build up its defences," Blinken said.
Speaking about China, he emphasised that the country's position is 'uncomfortable' due to associated backing of Russia in conflict with Ukraine.
"We do have a challenge, which is China is providing, not weapons, unlike North Korea and Iran, but it is providing the inputs through Russia's defence industrial base. 70 per cent of the machine tools that Russia is importing come from China," he added.
Blinken also highlighted China's role in the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, commenting that 'China cannot have it both ways'.
"China cannot all at once be saying it is for peace in Ukraine when it is helping to fuel the ongoing pursuit of the war by Russia. It can't say that it wants better relations with Europe when it is actually helping to fuel the greatest threat to Europe security since the end of the Cold War," he concluded.
In recent months, US and European leaders have accused China of strengthening Russia's defence sector through the export of dual-use goods. Beijing has denied supplying any weaponry, asserting that it maintains strict controls over such exports.
Beijing also stated that seeing "China as NATO's imaginary enemy will only backfire on NATO itself," addressing 'provocative' and 'irresponsible' remarks from NATO leaders.
The Aspen Security Forum is a prominent conference on national security and foreign policy in the US, bringing together domestic and international leaders to discuss critical global issues.