On Sunday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken appeared on CBS’ “Face the Nation” with host Margaret Brennan to discuss the potential Russian invasion on Ukraine.
During the segment, Brennan asked Blinken about a recent cyberattack against Ukraine that the U.S. has now said was likely attributable to Russia, and what the United States would do about it.
“…when we last spoke on January 23, you told me that if Russia engages in other tactics short of invasion, hybrid action, cyberattacks, efforts to bring a government down, there will be a swift, calibrated and united response,” Brennan stated. “Aren’t they doing all of those things right now? And where is the U.S. response?”
Blinken appeared to pivot, telling the host that the administration has supplied Ukraine with “more … lethal defensive assistance over the last year than in any previous years.”
Brennan pushed back, reminding Blinken that the cyberattacks just occurred. The secretary answered more directly, saying that the U.S. has “worked closely with Ukraine to ward them off, to get back up and running,” and that they’re “looking closely at the response” in coordination with allies.
The January 23 statement by Blinken to which Brennan referred was as follows:
First, we’ve been very clear that if there is any further Russian aggression in terms of sending Russian forces into Ukraine, there will be a swift, there will be a severe, and there will be a united response from the United States and Europe. Second, we’ve been equally clear that Russia engages in other tactics short of sending forces into Ukraine or other countries: hybrid actions, cyberattacks, efforts to bring a government down — and there, too, I’m very confident, based on the many consultations I’ve had with European allies and partners, that there will be a swift, calibrated, and also united response.
On Friday, Deputy National Security Advisor Anne Neuberger said that the U.S. believes Russia was responsible for the cyberattacks on Ukrainian banks. “We have technical information that links the Russian Main Intelligence Directorate or GRU. GRU infrastructure was seen transmitting high volumes of communication to Ukraine based IP addresses and domains,” she stated.
This is an excerpt from The Daily Wire.
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