Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh Holds an Off-Camera, On-The-Record Press Briefing

View Online Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh Holds an Off-Camera, On-The-Record Press Briefing Nov. 18, 2024 DEPUTY PENTAGON PRESS SABRINA SINGH: Hey, good morning, everyone. Just a few things at the top and then happy to take your questions. So first off, Secretary Austin continues his trip in the Indo-Pacific this week. Over the weekend, the secretary participated in a trilateral defense ministerial meeting or TDM with his Australian and Japanese counterparts. In a joint statement following the TDMM, the three leaders reaffirmed a shared vision for a peaceful, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific region and outlined four pillars by which the US, Australia and Japan will strengthen defense cooperation toward this shared vision. These pillars include expanding trilateral operational cooperation, building advanced capabilities together improving trilateral operational coordination, planning and information sharing and demonstrating our presence in the region. The full joint statement is available on defense.gov. Today and tomorrow. The Secretary is in the Philippines for a series of meetings with Philippine President Marcos, Secretary of National Defense Teodoro and other government officials to reiterate the United States's steadfast commitment to the Mutual Defense Treaty and to discuss the ways in which the US can continue to support the Philippines security. And looking to later this week, the Secretary will head to Laos to participate in the ADMM-Plus and then to Fiji for the first ever visit by a US secretary of Defense. Demonstrating this administration's commitment to the Pacific Islands and our affirmative vision for the region. We'll continue to provide readouts for these engagements as they become available. And then finally, Secretary Austin spoke yesterday with his UK counterpart, Secretary of State for Defense John Healey to discuss Ukraine and other global security issues. We will have a readout on that call later today that have a take your questions. All right, Tara. Q: Good morning. DEPUTY PENTAGON PRESS SINGH: Good morning. Q: So on the granting permission for long-range strikes into Russia with US-provided weaponry, what does that mean for the ATACMS that the US has provided Ukraine? How many ATACMS are available really to provide Ukraine at this point? We've noticed or understood that they were kind of supply limited. DEPUTY PENTAGON PRESS SINGH: So just on the first part of the question and I know probably many folks have questions about this that will be wildly unsatisfactory in my answer, but you have seen those reports. I just don't have anything to provide right now at this time on that, on those reports. Q: On what reports? DEPUTY PENTAGON PRESS SINGH: The reports that you're referencing on long-range strikes. Q: So the White House has not notified the Pentagon that they've allowed Ukraine to start doing long range strike? DEPUTY PENTAGON PRESS SINGH: I just don't have anything to add to the reporting over the weekend. Q: But can you confirm that the Pentagon, like that Biden let Secretary of Defense Austin know that this is greenlighted now? DEPUTY PENTAGON PRESS SINGH: I cannot confirm the reports and I cannot go into more details about the reporting. All I can tell you is that in terms of your second question on the ATACMS, we over the course of different presidential drawdown packages, we have provided Ukraine with, you know, ATACMS. Our support for Ukraine, you know, continues with different PDAs. But when it comes to the reporting that you're referencing from over the weekend, I just don't have more to provide at this time. Q: So in general though, what about the number of ATACMS the US has in its stockpile? Are those in short supply? DEPUTY PENTAGON PRESS SINGH: We would certainly not get into specific numbers in our stockpiles as you can appreciate. The secretary, and I think you've heard us talk about it that there are only so many of these capabilities that different nations can produce. They are incredibly costly for that reason, you know, they are in limited supply. So we're not going to dip below our own readiness levels, but of course we have agreed to support Ukraine through different PDAs and giving them ATACMS over the course of this administration. Okay. Liz Q: How many ATACMS has the US sent Ukraine so far? DEPUTY PENTAGON PRESS SINGH: For operational security reasons, that's not a number we would provide, okay. Q: And regardless of what's being reported, what's not being reported, I mean the Pentagon has said before, it wasn't allowing Ukraine to use the ATACMS in a certain way over the Russian border because it wouldn't help Ukraine's fight very much. Is that still the case? DEPUTY PENTAGON PRESS SINGH: So in terms of the use of ATACMS and without speaking to the reporting of this over the weekend, you know, because ATACMS are limited in supply and because there are only so many countries that produce these long range capabilities. You know, what we have said from, I think when like what we have had conversations about before is that doing deep strikes into Russia, you know, when it came to specific airfields, things like that, they have moved those out of the ATACMS range. So that wouldn't have an impact when it came to those, you know, certain capabilities that, you know, Russia continues to launch things at from or towards Ukraine. Again, for the reporting this weekend, I'm just not going to have anything for you on that. Okay. Oren. Q: Just a follow on to Liz and then another somewhat related question. We've heard for months from this building and from the administration there's a limited supply of ATACMS. Ukraine has longer range drones. Russia has moved its targets out of range. Ukraine is using its supply in Crimea effectively of ATACMS. Has anything shifted in the US perspective or does the US still hold that all those reasons are valid? DEPUTY PENTAGON PRESS SINGH: Well, as you just heard me say to Liz, in terms of being able to, I mean, the Ukrainians have very effectively demonstrated the ability to use indigenous capabilities like the UAVs to target, you know, ammunition, storage facilities or weapons storage facilities outside of those ATACMS range. So what they're doing with UAVs and actually something that we're learning from as well. When it comes to ATACMS being able to use those to target those airfields, you know, they are out of ATACMS range so that just wouldn't apply. I'm not going to get into, you know, further hypotheticals about what they could be used for and where. All I can tell you is I just -- I don't have more for you at this time, but I think the statements that we have said, you know from the podium and other places still stand when it applies to, you know, some of those targets outside of ATACMS range. Q: And then another question, Ukraine's defense ministry, I think said today that Russia has suffered a 11,370 casualties in a week, which would be the highest since the start of the war. The US has said 1,000 to 1,200 a day. This is 50 percent higher than that. Can you backstop that number? Do you have a reason to believe that the number has fairly dramatically increased in terms of casualties per day? DEPUTY PENTAGON PRESS SINGH: I was trying to do the math in my head, so thank you for doing it for me. So our assessment is still roughly 1,200 casualties per day, that's what we feel comfortable with right now. If that changes, you know, we will certainly let you know, but that's still our assessment right now. Hello, Felicia. Hi, nice to see you. Q: It's always a pleasure just on this phone call with Austin and his British counterpart did, did they discuss ATACMS and there was a report in The Sun that the US was not, I'm sure you're not going to answer this, but that the US was not allowing the UK to grant permission to Ukraine to use the storm shadows for long-range strikes. Did they talk about this? Is that accurate? DEPUTY PENTAGON PRESS SINGH: I haven't seen that report, so I can't comment on that. I mean, what the UK decides to do with their long-range capabilities. I wouldn't you know speak to you in particular when it comes to authorizations. We're going to have a readout of the call later today. So I don't have more to provide right now. Yeah, Ellie. Q: Can you update us on number of North Koreans in Kursk region? Are more on their way? And can you confirm if any North Koreans have been spotted participating in combat? DEPUTY PENTAGON PRESS SINGH: So our assessment is still it's probably over 11,000 North Koreans moving into Kursk. I think last, you know, last week it was between 10 and 11,000. I think, you know, we feel a little bit more confident that it's higher than that. In terms of, you know, combat operations, you know, we're aware that they've reportedly started to engage in combat operations. We have not, you know, independently confirmed that, but that being said, they're moving into Kursk for a reason. You know, we have every expectation that they would be engaging in combat operations, but I can't, you know, confirm that at this time. I'm sorry, you had a third question. Q: Are more on their way. Are you seeing more North Koreans moving? DEPUTY PENTAGON PRESS SINGH: Right now, we're not, but that doesn't rule out that that could always be a possibility of more, you know, DPRK forces being sent to help Russia. Q: Okay, thanks very much. I know you said you can't comment on the reports that the Ukrainians can engage in longer range strikes. But is the Pentagon at all concerned about the rhetoric now coming from Russia about those reports with Russian officials saying it's adding fuel to the fire and it's going to make things worse? How does that, even if you can't comment on the reports, how do the reports themselves on the Russian reaction change the situation perhaps on the ground in the Pentagon assessment? DEPUTY PENTAGON PRESS SINGH: So what's adding fuel to the fire is the fact that DPRK soldiers are now entering a fight and now you have, you know, two nations. And as the Secretary has said, North Korea entering this war makes them co-belligerents with Russia and we're talking about North Korean soldiers being used to take sovereign territory, Ukraine's sovereign territory and continue to, you know, push this war forward. So, you know, that certainly we view as escalatory with the DPRK soldiers entering the fight. Q: Some of the Russian officials pointed back to the previous comments earlier about possibly resorting to nuclear weapons and other means because of this action by the, reported action, by the US. Does the Pentagon assess there's been any change in the Russian nuclear posture? DEPUTY PENTAGON PRESS SINGH: Look, any type of nuclear saber rattling is incredibly dangerous. It's reckless. It's something that we're going to continue to monitor, but we haven't seen any changes to their posture. Tony? Q: What's the status of the transition team? Have they signed the GSA agreement yet to writ large, the Trump transition people and have any of the team entered the building yet and talked to you? DEPUTY PENTAGON PRESS SINGH: The team has not entered the building because they've not signed those MOUs yet. Q: Without that MOU, can you provide them any information? DEPUTY PENTAGON PRESS SINGH: Not formally, no. The way the transitions work is those particular MOUs do have to be agreed to by the transition team as soon as that is agreed to, you know, the Secretary, this administration has made that commitment to ensuring that the incoming team is set up for success and ensuring an orderly transition. But we can't engage the Trump transition team yet until those are signed. Q: Can you get a list roughly of the number of U.S. military officials in the building who serve at the pleasure of the president? You know, there's a hysteria that is going to come in and fire a lot of generals, but it'd be helpful to know how many actually serve under the pleasure of the president that would be eligible to be potentially fired. Not every general in this building serves at the pleasure of the president. Is that something you could -- can take personally? DEPUTY PENTAGON PRESS SINGH: I'm not going to get into numbers or providing a list. I mean, we all serve at the pleasure of the president. I know myself as an appointee serves at the pleasure of the president. Just for explanation purposes and what it's worth, you know, the commander, the secretary, the head of the agency can always make a decision to remove anyone that they, you know, choose to because of lack of confidence. But everyone serves at the pleasure of the president, so I'm not going to be able to give you a number or a list. What I can tell you is that I'm not going to get into hypotheticals and that everyone here that I certainly get to work with every day. Q: Yeah but you're a political appointee, that's different. DEPUTY PENTAGON PRESS SINGH: Yes, and I'm explaining to you that again, everyone here that I work with that's in uniform or all around the world, have been absolutely wonderful. And, you know, I'm just not going to be able to speak to anyone. Q: Fair enough. DEPUTY PENTAGON PRESS SINGH: Brad. Q: Yeah. I just want to follow up on her question. There is reporting that 100,000 North Korean troops are heading to Ukraine. Is that not accurate? DEPUTY PENTAGON PRESS SINGH: I'm not tracking that. What we've been able to say and what we have said and what we are tracking here is, you know, there are approximately 11,000 DPRK soldiers within Kursk, could more be on the way. I mean, that absolutely we've seen this deepening of a relationship and a partnership between Russia and North Korea. But I'm not tracking 100,000. Q: You haven't seen that number? Okay. DEPUTY PENTAGON PRESS SINGH: Yeah. Q: About the ATACMS in Ukraine, the batteries that the Ukrainians have right now, are they run totally by the Ukrainian soldiers or there are still American soldiers helping them to use them if needed? DEPUTY PENTAGON PRESS SINGH: So on the battlefield, everything is operated and run by Ukrainians. We, of course, offer basically tele support remotely, but we don't have any boots on the ground in Ukraine. Chris. Q: Thanks, Sabrina. Have there been any attacks against US troops in Iraq and Syria since Thursday? DEPUTY PENTAGON PRESS SINGH: I'm not tracking any attacks against US forces in the region. Yeah, Konstantin. Q: Thanks. President-elect Trump this morning said that he would invoke emergency powers and use the U.S. military troops is part of his deportation plans. Does the Pentagon have any reaction to that? And more broadly, can you speak to how well equipped the military is to deporting unnaturalized citizens? DEPUTY PENTAGON PRESS SINGH: Yeah, I'm just not going to get into hypotheticals. Charlie. Q: I wasn't going to get into hypotheticals either, but I feel like we need to get into hypotheticals. DEPUTY PENTAGON PRESS SINGH: Okay. Q: Because if it's actually been stated, what are the legalities, what are the restrictions for President-elect Trump if he were to call on U.S. forces of any stripe or description? DEPUTY PENTAGON PRESS SINGH: So I'm not speaking to hypotheticals, but in any type of just process when it comes to, you know, our forces, there is a rigorous process that is that, you know, part of those folks at the table is legal counsel. So anything would have to go, you know, through that office. Again, I'm not going to speak to hypotheticals and I'm not a spokesperson for the incoming administration, so I'm just going to leave it at that. Q: Okay, all right. DEPUTY PENTAGON PRESS SINGH: Anyone here? Yeah. Q: Hi. I'm just wondering if there's been any updates on the letter that Secretary Austin and Blinken sent with regards to arms shipments to Israel. I know that they said that there's been satisfaction, that there's been some movement, but this was a deadline that seems to have slipped. Is there a new deadline or are we just satisfied now? DEPUTY PENTAGON PRESS SINGH: No, I think I don't have more to provide than what I provided last week or the week before, but I mean we've seen more crossings open. You know, we have seen additional delivery routes inside Gaza. As I said last week, you know, there needs to be more done, it's not enough. We know that the humanitarian situation is very dire there, but I just don't have more to add than what I previously stated last week. Okay, great. Q: I have a question. DEPUTY PENTAGON PRESS SINGH: Yeah, oh, sorry. Missy. Q: Just following up on Tony's question. Is it possible to take a question without getting into the hypothetical that is out there about potentially firing officers about just to help the group understand like what are the authorities that any commander in chief or SECDEF has to fire serving military members rather than just like removing them from the service versus like moving them to a different job? You know, because civil servants have particular protections and all of that. And just to sort of clarify what can and cannot be done? DEPUTY PENTAGON PRESS SINGH: So my understanding is that, you know, if there is a loss of faith or a loss of confidence of any individual that agency or service head or the secretary has the ability to remove that person from that position. Now, that can also be, you know, worked within the service and they could move within that service. But again, that's at the discretion of the secretary and the service head. Q: I guess my question is though like firing them from the military versus firing them from the position that they're serving in. That's my question. DEPUTY PENTAGON PRESS SINGH: I understand. I totally understand that and each case would be very different and because that is just a hypothetical and I'm just not going to give them to you. But I appreciate the question. Q: Thanks, Sabrina. I just want to follow up on the prior question about the ATACMS and Russia's public threats to escalate matters. Does the department or the US have any indication that Russia could transfer more advanced weaponry hardware to Iran as a sort of retaliation if the US were to authorize longer-range attacking strikes into Ukraine? Is this is something that you guys have been tracking. It was brought up by John Kirby more than a year ago. And do you see that as something that's potentially on the table? DEPUTY PENTAGON PRESS SINGH: I mean, without speaking to an intelligence assessment, I think broadly speaking the relationship between Russia, Iran, DPRK and Russia, I mean, certainly deepened and I think that would imply some sort of, you know, sharing agreements between the two countries. I don't have anything specific today, but of course we could see a deepening partnership between those two countries. And that's something that we're going to, of course, keep an eye on. Okay, thanks, everyone.

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