SECRETARY KERRY: Well, good afternoon.
I’m delighted to welcome Secretary Carter and our friends from Australia, Foreign Minister
Bishop and Defense Minister Payne.
Julie and Marise, I’m really happy to have you here in Boston.
We’ve been delighted to be able to give you a slight taste of this great city, which
I have the privilege of calling home.
And I think it’s been a very constructive and solid exchange of data on things that
we tend to agree on, but where we’ve been really able to set out an agenda.
And I want to thank the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and so many folks from the
Pentagon from coming up here to share their views and to be part of this discussion, and
likewise from Australia.
Before I begin, I just want to say a quick word, if I may, about the situation in Israel
and the West Bank.
The United States condemns, in the strongest terms possible, the terrorist attacks against
Israeli civilians.
And they have resulted in the murder now of three Israelis and left numerous others wounded,
and this is on top of violence that has gone back and forth over a number of weeks now.
Naturally, we mourn the loss of any life, no matter who it is.
But this violence and any incitement to violence has got to stop.
The situation is simply too volatile, too dangerous.
And it is not going to lead to the outcome that people want, which is to have a peaceful
resolution of the differences.
We continue to stress the importance of all persons of responsibility to condemn the violence
on either side and to avoid provocative statements that can inflame the tensions even further.
I conveyed – this past weekend, I conveyed these thoughts and shared an exchange of views
with both Prime Minister Netanyahu and with President Abbas and with other regional leaders
as well.
And I expressed the deep concerns of President Obama and all those of us in the United States
about escalating tensions.
And I continue to urge all sides to take affirmative steps to restore calm.
And I will continue to stay in very close touch with leaders in the region in the days
ahead.
Now, obviously, it is no secret that there is a lot going on in the world today and a
lot that involves the great friendship, the great alliance of the United States and Australia.
Good friends are vital all the time.
But they are especially welcome in turbulent, challenging times.
And that is why the United States partnership with Australia is so important.
This is the third Australian ministerial that I’ve had the pleasure of participating in
with Foreign Minister Bishop, and I think she would agree that our countries do get
along pretty darn well.
In fact, this year marks the 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations between our nations.
And today, as always, we had a lot to discuss.
For example, our nations are among the largest contributors to the counter-ISIL coalition.
And we are determined to move forward with each of the lines of effort to which we are
committed in order to shrink Daesh’s territory, cut its funding, curb its recruiting, and
expose its lies.
Overall, Daesh is less capable now than it was a year ago.
But we have known from the outset this campaign is going to require persistence, patience,
and a firm will to prevail.
I think we possess all of that, and no one should doubt that our coalition is committed
and determined to win this victory.
But the fight against Daesh is only part of the dilemma that has been created by the Syrian
civil war.
The terrible suffering that is caused by that conflict will ultimately require a political
solution.
The Iranians understand that, Russia understands that, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia understands
that, the Turks and Jordanians and the Egyptians – every country engaged in this effort understands
there is no military solution.
There is only a political solution.
The military component can help you get to that solution, but Syria is literally being
destroyed in the process.
So it is time for great powers, great nations to come together and find a way forward for
that political solution.
That was the goal that we set three years ago in the Geneva communique and it remains
our goal today.
Now, certainly in our discussions here in Boston, we discuss the urgency of finding
a way to stop the killing and lay the groundwork for a transition to a government that the
Syrian people themselves can support.
In the end, the Syrian people have to resolve this.
What we need to do is help give them the construct, the framework within which they can do that.
As we have said many times, we understand that continued military support by the regime
– for the regime by Russia, or by any other country for that matter, only complicates
the possibility of a successful transition.
Because the more that Assad believes that he will have support that is unconditional,
the more he will resist the notion that he has to negotiate; and the more terrorists
will be attracted to the fight; and the more innocent people will be killed; and the more
damage will be done to the state of Syria.
I’ve been very clear in my conversations with Foreign Minister Lavrov that our ability
to develop a credible international political process would be a farce if it were perceived
as a way to simply extend or strengthen Assad’s hold on power.
So we have to do more to aid the victims of violence, and the United States has provided
some $4.5 billion to date in humanitarian assistance to those affected by the war in
Syria and more than 478 million for displaced Iraqis.
We’re also increasing the number of refugees that we can resettle from Syria – in fact,
from around the world.
We have the largest recipient of refugees for permanent relocation anywhere in the world.
And that is a proud American tradition.
But we know that more funds are going to be necessary to ease the suffering and protect
the safety of so many people and we urge nations that can help to do so.
On the other topics of our joint statement today, we reaffirm our commitment to the Joint
Comprehensive Plan of Action in Iran – with Iran, to implanting our force posture agreement
and to promoting stability on the Korean Peninsula.
And let me be clear – the United States remains committed to the verifiable and peaceful
denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.
And we are absolutely committed as well to the defense of our allies, the Republic of
Korea, and Japan.
We also held in-depth talks on the importance of maintaining peace and stability in the
East and South China Seas.
Freedom of navigation and overflight are among the most essential pillars of international
maritime law.
And that is why we urge the claimants in that region – we are not a claimant, but we urge
the claimants to halt any further reclamation, construction, and militarization of features.
It doesn’t matter how big a country is; the principle is clear: The rights of all
nations are supposed to be respected with respect to maritime law.
And together the United States and Australia are also taking steps to grow our economies
in a way that is inclusive and sustainable.
The new trade agreement – the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which we are both partners in
– will bring greater growth, wider prosperity, and higher labor and environmental standards
to all the nations that participate.
And finally, we also discussed sustainable management of our ocean and fisheries.
And we agreed to continue efforts to address illegal fishing and to work toward a truly
ambitious and meaningful climate change pact in Paris later this year.
And I’m delighted that Foreign Minister Bishop accepted our invitation to take part
in Our Ocean Conference next year in Washington.
In closing, I want to thank the members of both the U.S. and Australian delegations for
their very hard work, for a constructive and candid exchange.
President Obama and our entire Administration are strongly committed to this relationship.
And our talks today have given us a platform for further progress and for what I am absolutely
convinced will be a very productive next few months and on into 2016, when we will conduct
our fourth Australian-U.S. ministerial meeting.
Please to yield the floor now to Secretary of Defense Ash Carter.