00:00I'd like to get a sense from you where we stand today on the war in Iran, where you see
00:03things developing as of now.
00:06Everybody's making the efforts to find an exit off-ramp for this war because it's really having devastating consequences for
00:14everybody around the world.
00:17I mean, I was just in Africa at the beginning of this week and they're already feeling the consequences of
00:24this war.
00:25So that's why we're really discussing what could be the exit from this so that there's no escalation.
00:34And we await the arrival of U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
00:37I think for many people in the room, it's going to be a fact-finding mission.
00:40What are the facts that you're going to try to find from Marco Rubio?
00:44Well, previously, of course, we have had the discussions, what are their goals, really?
00:48What do they want to achieve? What would be their off-ramp to exit this war?
00:55And, I mean, the discussions would be about what is the diplomatic solution, really, and how we get there.
01:04And we've had, as recently as today, some comments from the President of the United States talking about NATO having
01:09done nothing in the conflict
01:10and that he will remember this going forward.
01:12I'd like to get your appraisal of what you think a European role can be in the Straits of Hormuz.
01:17You mentioned earlier a discussion about a coalition of the willing. How do you envision that?
01:23Well, first, in NATO, we have clear procedures. I mean, there is, you know, requests from the member state for
01:31help.
01:32And I don't think that there has been such a request also in the NATO, but I am not sure.
01:41That's for one. But other thing, of course, what we are discussing is that what we can do to keep
01:47the Strait of Hormuz open.
01:49And there, you know, we have our own operations, but we are also discussing whether, you know,
01:55there could be a joint coalition of the willing to really keep this Strait open.
02:00But right now, I mean, no naval vessels really sending to that.
02:05And the EU mission, a speedy, is there. Let's talk concretely about what's being discussed around that.
02:09It's a very small mission. Are we talking about expanding it to what size and changing its mandate and in
02:14what way?
02:14Yes. Well, strengthening it by having more vessels is one thing.
02:20Do you have an idea of how many?
02:22Well, as many as possible, because there are not many right now.
02:26And the other discussion is, of course, about the mandate of the region.
02:31So far, we have had the discussion with the foreign ministers, and there was no willingness to change the mandate
02:37to also include the Strait of Hormuz or the Persian Gulf in this.
02:43And you've had already sort of preliminary discussions with some of the ministers here, including the Saudi foreign minister.
02:48What has been the message from the Saudis?
02:49Well, everybody's looking for an off-ramp, really, that this war stops, because there are clear risks for everybody.
02:59So, of course, we have had discussions about what does it mean for the oil market, what does it mean
03:05to gas, also fertilizers, everything.
03:08So the urgency is there.
03:10And, of course, top of the agenda for the European foreign ministers is keeping Ukraine in focus.
03:15And there's also a discussion about, potentially, how the Europeans could help in Iran to try to get support from
03:20the United States.
03:21Is that part of your thinking in approaching this conflict?
03:23Well, we should not tie the two things together when it comes to helping Ukraine, but we need to do
03:31anyway.
03:32But, clearly, these two crises, two wars are linked, if you hear about the intelligence that the Russians are providing
03:41to Iran so that they could attack Americans.
03:44So, you know, the response of the Americans should also be not to help Russia.
03:49And there, it is important that the oil price is capped and they don't have the funding to actually go
03:56on.
03:56And do you think those reports about that intelligence sharing and potentially drone deliveries we're talking about, potentially, to Iran
04:01from the Russians,
04:02does that make the sort of battle lines a lot clearer for the United States?
04:05And does that then put the United States on the European side of those lines?
04:09Well, it's very clear for us where the lines are.
04:14And, clearly, I mean, Russia is not on the side of Americans.
04:17That's very clear.
04:19So there should also be pressure on the Russians because they are providing drones but also intelligence.
04:25And also thinking about the war in Ukraine, the endgame there, we're now approaching basically a financing cliff for the
04:30Ukrainians.
04:31The 90 billion euro loan still remains blocked.
04:33We have reporting now that some of the hardware from the United States is being diverted, potentially, away from Ukraine
04:38towards the Middle East.
04:40How do you see things progressing?
04:41Are we not just basically stuck in deadlock here for the Europeans?
04:44What is going to advance this story for Ukraine?
04:47Yes, definitely the 90 billion loan that we agreed in December has to be delivered to Ukraine.
04:56They desperately need it.
04:57And it's also the question of European credibility.
05:00So the work is ongoing there.
05:04Hopefully, still we have solutions and also working on the plan B's on this.
05:11But what is important is that so the weapons that Ukraine needs to defend themselves that they still have because
05:20the war is very brutal.
05:21And there's been some reporting that maybe some actually the European money that's been paid to buy the weapons through
05:26the Pearl program could be rerouted.
05:29Is there a reaction from Europe from that if the European money is being used for weapons that are now
05:32being sent to the Middle East?
05:34I'm not aware of that.
05:35And then also thinking about Ukraine and the Hungarians and the role.
05:39We've had some reporting recently about the foreign minister effectively briefing the Kremlin from some of the meetings that are
05:44being held in Brussels.
05:45Do you believe that that is the case?
05:47Is that appropriate?
05:48I think, you know, I think I know your answer to that.
05:50And what can you do about it?
05:51Yeah.
05:52Well, clearly, it's not appropriate.
05:55I mean, the secret discussions or closed discussions should remain closed discussions.
06:00And there is also the obligation of professional secrecy.
06:04So I've reached out also to the foreign minister of Hungary to to have a discussion about this.
06:13And I've also reached out to the Secretariat of European Council to see what are the gaps in our rules
06:21of procedure to to cover these kind of cases.
06:25And thinking about the deadlock on the 90 billion for Ukraine, does this revive the conversation around frozen Russian assets?
06:31Is there war? Is there actual work being done on this?
06:33Is that being progressed?
06:34Are we getting past the Belgian exception to that?
06:37Well, you're you're correct in mentioning that actually this 90 billion loan was alternative to the frozen assets being used.
06:45So if the loan is not delivered, we should go to plan A, which is using the Russian frozen assets.
06:54I mean, this is important that Ukrainians get the funding.
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