Transcription
Thank the gentleman. Chair now recognizes gentleman from California, Mr. Garamendi.
Uh thank you, Mr. Chairman. And I want to thank my colleagues for a series of I think very important questions. Uh getting to the heart of the matter, um what is the principal threat to Europe? General?
Uh Congressman, the principal threat to European security is the Russian Federation.
Mr. Zimmerman?
Uh concur with that, Congressman.
Okay. Now, Mr. Zimmerman, if that if Russia is the principal threat to Europe, is Russia also the principal threat to the United States because of its threat to Europe? Mr. Zimmerman?
Uh Congressman, I think that is a uh multifaceted question. I don't know that we we Russia is a serious threat, and our national defense strategy uh plays that out in clear terms.
Okay. Now, General?
Uh Congressman, from my uh previous time on the Joint Staff with a global perspective, I I think the the thing that I am most concerned about is the interaction of our adversaries as they start to collaborate uh and uh and work against us in their common interest and contrary to ours. And so, uh Russia certainly contributes to that. Uh China, North Korea, and Iran do as well. Uh it's all interconnected.
So, General, what is the best strategy to address that threat? Is it a strong presence of the United States in Europe together with NATO, or is there some other strategy that would address that threat?
Congressman, I think um you know, in the in the short term, uh nothing deters uh Russia like an American flag on a on a uniform. You know, we are the best military in the world. We're the strongest military in the world. Uh the Russians and everyone else, every adversary on this planet knows that. So, we certainly play a role in that. Over time, as the Europeans get stronger and better, uh that will allow us to move some of those American flags to other places uh and and we do need Europe to be stronger uh to assist with their own defense so that we can do that.
Now, moving to the Ukraine situation, the United States is not Is the United States presently providing direct support to Ukraine? Mr. Zimmerman?
Uh Congressman, uh the Pearl Initiative, which the President announced with Secretary General Rutte, uh is a is a way that US equipment, which is, you know, the best of the world can offer, can be provided to Ukraine with European compensatory funds.
>> Mr. Do the answer to the question is the United States Is the United States providing direct support to Ukraine? And I think you just said no. It goes through the European countries. Is that correct?
Well, uh they they provide compensatory funds. The the material goes goes to Ukraine through the Pearl Initiative.
Okay. So, why is the United States not providing direct support? Why is the United States using Europe as a front for our support?
The the reason the President uh announced Pearl with again, I would just I would say the support of NATO Secretary General Rutte was out of a recognition that Europeans ought to be at the front in providing the support to Ukraine. And so, that is the concept behind the the Pearl Initiative. It doesn't exclude um other means the United States may choose to uh support, but that is that is the method that the President has >> So, the chosen.
The American equipment and support goes to the European countries who then transmit that support or transfer that support to Ukraine.
Uh I I think Congressman, the the logistics don't don't have to work to work that way. Uh and if I may, maybe I'll ask General Grinkevich to weigh in here because he's intimately acquainted with the >>
Uh Congressman, the the way it works is uh we package or or create those Pearl packages at a half billion dollars a piece. We then uh work with US NATO to shop those packages around and with the Secretary General for European nations to purchase it. Once a European nation commits the funds, uh those are transferred uh through the NATO logistics hubs uh to Ukraine.
Okay. We have trans- Have we transferred direct military equipment out of the European theater for the Iran war? General?
Uh Congressman, we have, and I'd be happy to provide you details on that in the classified session. I yield back.