PRESS SECRETARY JOHN F. KIRBY: Yes, I'm not Kirby-late today. Wow! I knew I'd be facing your wicked stare-down, so I don't want to get the stink eye from Meghann.
All right, nothing much at the top except just to let you know that the secretary had a chance this morning to speak with the Ukrainian minister of defense, Minister Reznikov. This follows a constant dialogue and conversation that the secretary has with the minister. They talked about all the things that the United States is doing to help Ukraine defend itself. Minister Reznikov thanked the secretary for that support and offered his assessment of the situation on the ground, as you might expect. Secretary Austin highlighted, again, our ongoing efforts to deliver security assistance to Ukraine, as much as we can and as fast as we can, and our commitment to meet Ukraine's most urgent needs and evolving battlefield requirements. And obviously, all this is done in the context of what we continue see as Russia's re-prioritization of the east and the south. And of course, the secretary talked about our coordination efforts with other allies and partners. We'll have a full readout of the meeting a little bit later, probably before the briefing is over.
With that, we'll take questions. I don't see Bob or Lita, so okay. Idrees?
Q: Two quick questions. There were some social media reports about some equipment moving to the border, Russia's border with Finland. Have you seen anything? Any buildup? And secondly, on Mariupol, it does increasingly seem like it will fall at some point, and I was just curious. Is this sort of narrative being built up in Russia, that if Mariupol is taken by the Russians, it would be a massive success and it would change the tide of the war, and then they could refocus back on the west again? And I was just curious how your assessment is if Mariupol, not if, when Mariupol falls, what that would mean.
MR. KIRBY: Well, first of all, I don't think anybody here is ready to be fatalistic about what happens in Mariupol. But to your first question, no, I have not seen anything to confirm social media reports about Russian equipment, weapons or systems or forces near Finland.
Our assessment today is that Mariupol is still contested, and that the Ukrainians are still fighting to defend Mariupol from a Russian seizure of it. You've seen the images yourself. You've seen the devastation that Russian airstrikes have wrought on Mariupol and the city, but our assessment is that the Ukrainians are still fighting for it.
And look, it's obvious that the Russians want Mariupol because of its strategic location there at the south of that Donbas area and right on the Sea of Azov. It's a major port city, one; two, it would provide them unfettered and unhindered land access between the Donbas and Crimea; and three, because it's to the south of the Donbas area. If, in fact, what they say is true, that they want to secure for themselves that Donbas area, they claim is, you know, predominantly basically Russian provinces, then Mariupol, from a geographic perspective, you can understand why that would be important to them in terms of their efforts in the Donbas.
So it has significance on many levels. It also has great significance to the Ukrainian people because of what it represents to their economic lifeblood, and because it is their city and it's part of their country and they haven't given up on it, and we're not giving up on them, either.
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Q: Thank you so much.
I was wondering if you could talk about the maritime affects on Mariupol; if you're seeing any strikes coming in from ships in the sea as they continue to bombard Mariupol.
MR. KIRBY: Look, I don't have perfect knowledge of every missile or long-range fire that the Russians are firing into Mariupol. It continues to be under attack from air strikes. We have seen that the Russians have focused a lot of their air strikes on Mariupol and on the Donbas area. That's where the preponderance of their air activity seems to be centered.
We have seen, in the past, Heather, I can't speak for like, you know, today but we have seen in recent days and weeks the Russians using their surface combatants in the Sea of Azov to fire cruise missiles onto shore. But, I couldn't tell you how many have landed, you know, in Mariupol or what the specific targets were.
But it has been their practice to supplement their air strike activity with cruise missiles fired from surface combatants at sea.
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