Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s Remarks to the Press

QUESTION:  On the record or on background? 

QUESTION:  Are we off the record, on –  

SECRETARY RUBIO:  No, we’re on the record.  Your employers are paying for this trip.  They deserve something, right? 

QUESTION:  Yeah, thank you. 

SECRETARY RUBIO:  I feel optimistic about it.  I mean, we wouldn’t coming if we weren’t. 

SECRETARY RUBIO:  Hold on, hold on, let me give these guys – I kind of surprised everybody. 

QUESTION:  You’re optimistic about it.  Yeah.  And have the –

SECRETARY RUBIO:  Are those guys with you too?  They’re going to get fired for not getting this?

QUESTION:  Have the Ukrainians shared their ideas in advance of the meeting?  Have they shared their ideas (inaudible)? 

SECRETARY RUBIO:  We have a general sense of – but I mean, I hope it’ll go well.  I mean, the important point in this meeting is to establish clearly their intentions, their desire, as they’ve said publicly now numerous times, to reach a point where peace is possible.  And then we’ll have to determine how far they are from the Russian position, which we don’t know yet either.  And then once you understand where both sides truly are, it gives you a sense of how big the divide is and how hard it’s going to be.  So I’m hoping it’ll be a positive interaction along those lines. 

And the most important thing that we have to leave here with is a strong sense that Ukraine is prepared to do difficult things, like the Russians are going to have to do difficult things, to end this conflict or at least pause it in some way, shape, or form.

QUESTION:  What do you need to hear to know that they are committed to that?  What are some of those difficult things?

SECRETARY RUBIO:  Well, I don’t have any predetermined words I need them to say, but I think primarily it’s just a sense of where they are and where their understanding is, that there’s – I think both sides need to come to an understanding that there is no military solution to this situation.  The Russians can’t conquer all of Ukraine, and obviously it’ll be very difficult for Ukraine in any reasonable time period to sort of force the Russians back all the way to where they were in 2014.  So the only solution to this war is diplomacy and getting them to a table where that’s possible.  I think the French and the British have been very supportive along the way over the last week as well and very helpful, so we’re hopeful we’ll have good meetings tomorrow. 

QUESTION:  Is the focus –

QUESTION:  Are you expecting to actually get anything signed by the end of tomorrow – for example, the minerals deal or –

SECRETARY RUBIO:  Well, we’re not coming – I mean, the minerals deal is on the table.  That’s continuing to be worked on.  It’s not part of this conversation per se, and it’s not something that – tomorrow can be successful without it.  It’s certainly a deal the President wants to see done, and – but it doesn’t necessarily have to happen tomorrow.  There are still more details to work out. 

And at this point, we’re probably – rather than a memorandum of understanding just wanting to sign a specific agreement, and that would take a little bit more time.  But I wouldn’t prejudge tomorrow by whether or not we have a minerals deal.  It’s not that – it’s an important topic, but it’s not the main topic on the agenda.

QUESTION:  (Inaudible) going to have to go back to Russians at some point on this trip after you meet with the Ukrainians –

QUESTION:  Go back to the Russians, like, while you’re there?

SECRETARY RUBIO:  Well, not while we’re there.  I mean, obviously there will be some – at some point in an effort to engage with them.  And we’ve engaged with them on the diplomatic front, just our embassies and the status of our respective missions.  But at some point soon, obviously, we’ll have to go back and establish a process by which we can determine what the Russian positions are in this regard and see how far apart we are.  But we haven’t done that yet.

QUESTION:  The Russians have given a sense of what their position is.  They’ve ruled out explicitly European peacekeepers in Ukrainian territory.  Lavrov has done that on the record.  Yet President Trump has welcomed the idea of European peacekeepers.  Isn’t that a big obstacle on the Russian side? 

SECRETARY RUBIO:  Well, ultimately, like I said, when – in real diplomacy there is what is being said publicly and then what we have to have conversations about.  And I’m not claiming that that’s not the Russian position; we don’t know.  That will be the next step in this process. 

We have to understand the Ukrainian position and just have a general idea of what concessions they’d be willing to make, because you’re not going to get a ceasefire and an end to this war unless both sides make concessions.  That’s just obvious.  We’ll need to see without – maybe we won’t go into great details.  We’re not going to be sitting in a room drawing lines on a map, but just get a general sense of what concessions are in the realm of the possible for them and what they would need in return, and then find out what the Russian position is in that regard.  And that’ll give us a pretty good assessment of how far apart we truly are.

QUESTION:  Mr. Secretary, will you consider –

SECRETARY RUBIO:  I’ll get you.  I’m not going – I can’t go anywhere.  (Laughter.)

QUESTION:  Will you consider resharing intelligence information with the Ukrainians if this meeting goes well? 

SECRETARY RUBIO:  Well, the Ukrainians are already receiving all defensive intelligence information as we speak.  I think all the notion of the pause in aid broadly is something I hope we can resolve.  Obviously, I think what happens tomorrow will be key to that.

QUESTION:  What are you –

QUESTION:  Does the United States want to see China playing a role in the post-war peacekeeping or reconstruction? 

SECRETARY RUBIO:  That topic has not been raised by anybody.  But we’d like anyone – I would hope that every country in the world, especially powerful countries like China, would have – would do anything they can to further the cause of peace here.  I think it’s in everyone’s interest that this war end.  But obviously, they have not been a part of these conversations, and that topic has not been raised by anybody. 

QUESTION:  The Ukrainians have publicly proposed a ceasefire of attacks on energy infrastructure.  I believe that’s an idea that was discussed with the Russians last time on the American side.  Is that a promising foundation for moving forward?

SECRETARY RUBIO:  Well, it’s – I’m not saying that alone is enough, but it’s the kind of concession you would need to see in order to end this conflict.  I mean, ideally you could just reach a truce and end the whole conflict, but it probably could begin with some cessation of hostilities of some form or fashion. 

QUESTION:  Is that enough to get the intelligence restored and the supply of arms restored – a ceasefire in the Ukrainian side (inaudible)? 

SECRETARY RUBIO:  Well – yeah, we’ll see.  We’ll see how the rest of the talks go tomorrow as well.  But as I said, I think if we emerge there with a good meeting that we feel good about and can report back to the President, then I think decisions will be made in regards to the pause, the current pause. 

QUESTION:  Do you have any expectations –

QUESTION:  What (inaudible) –

QUESTION:  Do you have any expectations that you’ll speak with Zelenskyy while you’re here?

SECRETARY RUBIO:  I don’t know.  I mean, he’s not – he’s not part of the – I mean, he’s here meeting with the crown prince, but I don’t think he’ll be part of our meetings.  Our meetings are with the delegation they’ve sent – their national security advisor, their defense minister, and their foreign minister – is my understanding. 

QUESTION:  Could you speak even informally, though, outside of –

SECRETARY RUBIO:  Potentially.  As I said, his engagements will probably be with the President directly, but it’s possible.  But that’s not part of our – the engagement tomorrow.  He’s picked his team and that’s who’s coming. 

QUESTION:  Why does –

QUESTION:  President Trump suggested there could be more sanctions on Russia.  And what’s your thinking about that?

SECRETARY RUBIO:  Well, ultimately, listen, I mean, we understand that for this conflict to end, both sides have to end it.  And I think his point is that it should be clear to everyone that the United States has tools available to also impose costs on the Russian side of this equation, but we hope it doesn’t come to that.  What we’re hoping is that both sides realize that this is not a conflict that can end by military means; it can only end by diplomatic means.  And the President’s goal is to bring them both to the table to get this resolved.  But it’s a reminder that we understand that the United States has tools at its disposal if in fact this falls apart, and – but we’re hoping it doesn’t.  We really do.  We hope it doesn’t reach that point.

QUESTION:  (Inaudible) we heard some of the Europeans over the weekend, for example, suggest that the withdrawal of – suspension of military assistance and intelligence is appeasement of an aggressor and therefore you’re seeing these increased attacks on the Ukrainians.  What do you say to that? 

SECRETARY RUBIO:  We’re trying to end the conflict.  We’re trying to end the war.  We’re trying to get both parties to the table.  The President is going to use whatever tools he has at his disposal to try to get both sides to that table so this war will end.  And frankly, he’s the only leader in the world right now that has any chance at all.  No one’s telling you this is going to be easy.  No one’s saying that this is guaranteed to work.  But the only one who has any chance of making it work is President Trump.  And so we’re – he’s going to – we’re going to continue to do what – to pursue his objectives.  And others can opine as they wish, but none of them have the opportunity to help bring this about, and we do.  And the President’s going to take that opportunity to see where it leads, because at the end what he wants is an end to a war, which is something everyone should be in agreement with. 

QUESTION:  You said defensive intelligence is being provided.  What does that mean?  Warning of Russian missile attacks? 

SECRETARY RUBIO:  Yeah, they have the ability to defend themselves.  But I don’t want to get too deep into the intelligence piece other than to say that my hope is we’re going to have a really good meeting tomorrow and we’ll be in a different place very soon. 

QUESTION:  You’re meeting with the Saudi crown prince.  Will you also discuss the possibility for President Trump to visit Saudi?  The President said he wants to visit Saudi –

SECRETARY RUBIO:  Well, I think that is a – that’s a standing invitation both ways.  I don’t know what the timing of that’s going to be.  But obviously, we’re grateful to the Saudis for continuing to host and being a forum for these sorts of conversations.  They’ve proven to be a very valuable interlocutor in that regard.  And they have relationships with both parties in this crisis, so they’re a logical choice and they’re great hosts, and so we’re grateful to them.  And obviously, they talk to the Russians, they talk to the Ukrainians, so we’re interested to hear their perspectives on this before our meeting. 

QUESTION:  Is a summit meeting between President Trump and President Putin contingent on some sort of Russian flexibility on this issue?

SECRETARY RUBIO:  Well, right now there’s no meeting planned.  I think both sides have expressed a willingness at some point to meet, but there’s no meeting planned at this moment.  And I’m not – so therefore there’s – nor that there’s any contingency.  I think any – for a meeting to be successful, obviously you want that meeting to be about something, something positive.  So – but I can’t predetermine what the President’s schedule is going to be or what – the President’s willing to meet, as he’s shown in the past, with anyone.  He doesn’t feel that meetings are concessions, and that only by talking and meeting can you make progress on issues irrespective of what disagreements you might have.  But there’s no meeting scheduled, planned – scheduled or planned at this moment.  Obviously that could change, but that’s not the case right now. 

QUESTION:  On the relationship with Poland after your conversation –

SECRETARY RUBIO:  No, Poland’s a great NATO Ally, and they do – they’re a great example for the rest of Europe.  I was simply responding to a post by the foreign minister which is just inaccurate.  There’s never been any threat of Starlink being cut off.  The only thing Elon Musk has pointed out is that without Starlink Ukraine would have been in a lot of trouble, which is 100 percent accurate and it remains accurate.

QUESTION:  So walk us toward the bigger picture.  For example, after this meeting, will you have a meeting with the Russians, or is an ad hoc, it depends on the success that you are making?

SECRETARY RUBIO:  Well, at some point that’ll have to happen, right?  I mean, without – we’ll have to engage with the Russians to understand what their positions are, and only then can we assess how far we are from an end to this conflict, to this war.  That’s the only way we can assess it.  We have to understand what is the Ukrainians’ real position, how far can they go; where are the Russians, how far can they go.  And then we have to see how far apart that is.  And that might be really – that might be, I’m hoping, easier than we think, but it may be harder than anyone imagines.

QUESTION:  So there’s no time frame for it?  So for example, the President will say by this month we have to have a ceasefire?

SECRETARY RUBIO:  Well, I wouldn’t set any artificial timeframe because these things – some of that will really depend on the willingness of the parties to move and other events that are going on.  But I – the answer is I don’t know what the time frame is and we won’t know until we’ve engaged both sides in an honest conversation about what concessions, if any, they are willing to make.  And if we find ourselves really far apart, then that’ll be unfortunate.  If we find ourselves closer than we imagine, that’ll be welcome good news, and we need a lot of good news right now.  But we’ll see.  I mean, it’s – just to be transparent with you, we don’t know how far apart they truly are.  That’s why we’re coming to talk to them today, and then there’ll be a follow-up with the Russians at some point as well.

QUESTION:  Do you believe the Ukrainians regret the communication breakdown that happened in Washington recently?

SECRETARY RUBIO:  Well, it wasn’t the way it was supposed to go.  I mean, we had these conversations with them coming in.  We explained to them our position.  We really wanted to get negotiations.  We felt – I felt – I was actually shocked as it was happening because it went the total opposite of everything we had talked about ahead of time.  I couldn’t believe what I was seeing.  It was like this can’t be real, but it was. 

But we have to move on.  Despite all of that, the fundamentals remain the same.  There is a bloody, costly war in the middle of Europe.  It’s a dangerous war and it needs to come to an end.  And we need to do whatever we can to make it end, and that’s why we’re on our way to Saudi Arabia to meet with them.

QUESTION:  Have the Ukrainians put out any pragmatic or tangible proposals on the table?

SECRETARY RUBIO:  Well, that’s why we’re coming to meet with them.  And if they did, we probably wouldn’t be sharing those publicly because we don’t – why would you do that in a negotiation?  A lot of – you guys are veterans of all this.  If you’re really working on something, a lot of it has to happen in diplomatic rooms, not in front of cameras.  It’s the only way you make deals like this happen.  And they’re hard, and they take time and a lot of work and a lot of frustration along the way. 

But in the end, we’re trying to end a war, a very bloody war, a war that has a long history behind it as well.  So it – that – go back a decade.  So we – we’re not in any way claiming this is going to be easy, but we are claiming it’s necessary, and we’re going to do everything we can to end this conflict.  And today, hopefully, is a good first step in that direction.  Well, tomorrow, I guess.

QUESTION:  Do you think Ukraine should consider land concessions beyond what was lost in 2014?

SECRETARY RUBIO:  I’m not going to pre-negotiate anything.  I mean, right now we’re really in listening mode.  We may have suggestions if they ask, but we really want to sort of ascertain where they stand on this and what they’re willing to do in order to achieve peace.  It may be incompatible with what the Russians are willing to do.  That’s what we need to find out.  But we’re not going to find out on X, we’re not going to find out on media press conferences.  We have to find out in rooms that are closed that you guys can’t be in, but you’ll know the end of it.

QUESTION:  Do you expect that they’ll raise the resumption of military assistance, and what are you prepared to do on that?

SECRETARY RUBIO:  Sure, I imagine that they’ll raise that, and I’m sure that’ll be addressed.  And hopefully, we’ll have a good meeting and we’ll have good news to announce on that front.

QUESTION:  Any reason why –

SECRETARY RUBIO:  I can assure you this:  We will not be providing military aid to the Russians, so –

QUESTION:  Any reason why –

QUESTION:  Are you prepared to resume for Ukraine, though?

SECRETARY RUBIO:  Of what?

QUESTION:  Are you prepared to resume military assistance for Ukraine, though?

SECRETARY RUBIO:  Yeah, I mean, all of that came about because we felt that they were not committed to any sort of peace process or not interested in negotiations.  If that changes, then obviously our posture can change.  But I am not going to prematurely announce anything.  Hopefully, we have a really good meeting tomorrow.

QUESTION:  Any reason why Mr. Witkoff is not in this meeting?

QUESTION:  Any reason why Mr. Witkoff is not attending?

SECRETARY RUBIO:  Well, he’s got – he’s in – he’s headed to Qatar to deal with the – that situation.  But I was with him yesterday, and I talk to him a lot.  Even though he doesn’t live far from me in Miami, but we’re on the phone a lot.  He’s headed to Qatar, I believe today, and we’re probably all going to reconvene again in Florida on Saturday or maybe Friday night.  It depends on his travel schedule.  He’s a busy man these days, too, so – he’s a great guy if you guys haven’t met him.  Fantastic person.

QUESTION:  Could I just ask on Gaza?  I mean, the Israelis have cut off all aid now and electricity yesterday, I think.  What’s your response to that?

SECRETARY RUBIO:  Well, again, they feel like Hamas is not serious about negotiations.  They are still holding hostages and bodies in terrible conditions.  They are insisting on these dramatically lopsided trades of hundreds of people for one or two.  The President’s expressed his frustration about it as well.  So the Israelis are going to do what they believe is in their interests to sort of force Hamas to make decisions.  As I said, Mr. Witkoff is heading to Qatar, and hopefully that’ll bear fruit and all of these hostages will be released.  They should all be released.  They should all be released. 

QUESTION:  Do you anticipate any more direct contact, direct communications with Hamas?

SECRETARY RUBIO:  Well, that was a one-off situation in which our special envoy for hostages, whose job it is to get people released, had an opportunity to talk directly to someone who has control over these people and was given permission and encouraged to do so.  He did so; as of now, it hasn’t borne fruit.  But it was – doesn’t mean he was wrong to try.  But our primary vehicle for negotiations on this front will continue to be Mr. Witkoff and the work he’s doing through Qatar.

QUESTION:  Do you expect those conversations with Hamas on a one-on-one basis to potentially continue, or was that one-off, no more –

SECRETARY RUBIO:  As of now that was just the one – when you’re in the world of getting hostages released, you end up running into all kinds of people around the world.  Mr. Boehler, who’s fantastic at what he does and has already had tremendous success in getting people released around the world – including some that have been underreported like in Belarus, where they were unilaterally released without any sort of concessions – had an opportunity to meet somewhere with someone linked to Hamas, and it was an opportunity he pursued to see if something could come of it.  As of now, nothing’s come of it.  So – but our primary focus is on the process happening in Qatar that Mr. Witkoff will be attending.

QUESTION:  Can I please ask, Bosnia and BiH – will the U.S. consider any punitive action against Dodik for what he did?

SECRETARY RUBIO:  Well, like I said, we don’t want to see partition there.  We don’t want to see that.  The last thing the world needs is another crisis, and we’ve spoken out about that already.  As far as what we maybe do next, we’re reviewing those options.  But it’s been abundantly clear that whatever differences may exist internally there, this cannot lead to a country breaking apart, and it cannot lead to another conflict.  And we’re certainly reviewing all of our options, and I believe there’s a UN consultation on it today as well.  So we’ll see how that plays out.  But we’re hoping we can do anything we can to avoid another conflict in Europe from emerging.

QUESTION:  Did you get – have you had a response yet from the Iranians?  The President’s letter that he announced.

SECRETARY RUBIO:  Only what you saw the ayatollah say publicly.  So –

QUESTION:  What do you make of that?

SECRETARY RUBIO:  I think it’s, again, par for the course in terms of how they’ve responded in the past.  Obviously, with matters such as this, one thing is what people say publicly; another is what they might be willing to do privately.  We obviously don’t have a diplomatic presence inside of Iran, and so it – as of now, the President’s been abundantly clear that Iran’s not going to have a nuclear weapon.  He’s offered them an opportunity to seek an offramp to avoid escalation of this matter.  We’ll see if they take him up on it.  The President prefers peace over war and prefers peace over conflict every time, and he has shown that in his first term and he’s showing it now.  But they’re not going to have a nuclear weapon.

QUESTION:  Have you spoken to the Europeans about what sanctions relief for Russia might look like, since that really needs to be –

SECRETARY RUBIO:  We’ve not gotten to that stage.  And obviously, the Europeans have their own set of sanctions, and we can’t – they’ll have to make the decision about what they’re willing to do.  It’s my point from the very beginning, is that ultimately any final settlement of this war will have to involve Europeans because of their sanctions that they’ve imposed, and we have been in very close contact, in fact today here on this plane, with both the UK and France with regard to our meetings tomorrow and potential follow-up meetings after the G7 gathering in Canada.  And they’ve been – they’ve been very helpful, and frankly, we’ve worked very closely with them on the prelude to this meeting and hopefully in the days to come after.

QUESTION:  Beyond territory, do the Ukrainians need to accept a cap or some sort of limit on their capabilities and forswear joining NATO for there to be a settlement?

SECRETARY RUBIO:  Again, guys, I’m not going to, like, pre-negotiate the conditions.  We’re more in listening mode than talking mode in this visit.  We’ll (inaudible) our suggestions and our encouragement.  But what we want to know is:  Are they interested in entering some sort of peace conversation and sort of general outlines of the kinds of things they could consider, recognizing that it’s been a costly and bloody war for the Ukrainians?  They’ve suffered greatly and their people have suffered greatly, and it’s hard in the aftermath of something like that to even talk about concessions.  But that’s the only way this is going to end to prevent more suffering.

But I’m not going to set any conditions on what they have to or need to do.  I think we want to listen to see how far they’re willing to go and compare that to what the Russians want and then see how far apart we truly are.

QUESTION:  Did your conversations in Riyadh persuade you that the Russians are interested in achieving a peace and making concessions?  Or did you not get that far?

SECRETARY RUBIO:  Well, our – no, our conversations in Riyadh, in addition to talking about the untenable situation with our embassy in Moscow and their argument that they have a tough time in America, was really sort of to gauge whether they were interested in having talks or not.  It was talks about talks, in essence.  Are you interested or not in pursuing any peace negotiation?  And if so, who do we follow up with?  That was the extent of that conversation as I –

QUESTION:  And are you convinced they’re interested?

SECRETARY RUBIO:  Well, I’ll be convinced when they do it.  But at least they’re talking about it.  We hadn’t talked to them in a long time, so – at least three years.  No one’s been talking to them for the last couple of years, so I’m convinced they want to talk again and they want to talk more.  Whether it leads to something, I don’t know.  That’ll be up what they’re willing to do and actually whatever actions they take.  So I think that, like everyone, we really don’t know how far apart we are or how realistic this is until we test it.  But we’re going to test it on both sides and then report to the world about where we stand and what progress we make.  And hopefully the good – the news will be good.

QUESTION:  Maybe just looking for – looking forward to the G7, how is the work on the communique going?  And are there sticking points over Ukraine language?

SECRETARY RUBIO:  There’s always some sticking points.  Ultimately, we can’t sign onto any communique that’s not consistent with our position to bring both sides to the table.  Obviously, there are some European countries that will want and other countries that may be willing to go further in what they’re willing to say, again, not because we’re taking anyone’s side, but because we feel like antagonistic language sometimes makes it harder to bring parties to a table, especially since we’re the only ones right now that seem to be in a position to make talks like that possible.  So we’re working through it with them.  I don’t know if we’ve reached resolution.  But I’m certain we’ll be able to put out a document that’s meaningful and unifying without undermining our ability to bring both sides to the table.

QUESTION:  Can you share what language you don’t want to see on Ukraine (inaudible)?

SECRETARY RUBIO:  No.  Why would I share that?  But you have to ask, and I get it.  Thank you.

QUESTION:  How is it working with the Canadians right now through all these different issues with the U.S. and Canada?

SECRETARY RUBIO:  Well, look, there’s all those other issues.  There’s things with – first of all, we still – we do NORAD together, we do – we’re NATO members together.  We have a lot of common interests.  And so despite the frictions that most certainly exist on the trade front and so forth, there are other things we’ll continue to work on together.  And our obligation is to try, to the extent possible, to not allow the things we work on together to be impacted negatively by the things we disagree on right now.  So that’s what we’ll continue to do.  I imagine being in Canada, the issues about trade are going to be topical, but there’ll be a lot of other things talked about.

QUESTION:  Did you – does – does the U.S. dispute the border treaties with Canada?

SECRETARY RUBIO:  The what now?

QUESTION:  The border, the –

SECRETARY RUBIO:  (Laughter.)  The border treaty?

SECRETARY RUBIO:  Let – we’re going to have good, productive conversations with them about all the things we work together on.  And –

QUESTION:  I mean, is that being raised?  Because it’s reported the President raised that.

SECRETARY RUBIO:  I – yeah, I’m sure.  I don’t know if the President raised it or not.  I – it’s not on the agenda for the G7, I can tell you that.

MODERATOR:  (Inaudible) last question –

QUESTION:  There’s a lot of worry in Taiwan about U.S. talk with Russia and U.S. talk on the Ukraine issue.  Does the U.S. have a message to its allies in Asia Pacific and especially Taiwan?

SECRETARY RUBIO:  Well, I don’t think an endless, ongoing conflict in Europe or in Ukraine is good for the Indo-Pacific region.  It diverts a lot of the world’s attention, time, and resources away from areas where we continue to see growing threats, where – so every dollar we spend, every moment we spend paying attention to a very dangerous war in Europe is time that’s not being spent on the Indo-Pacific.  So obviously as a great power, the United States has to have the ability to focus on both.  But we have limit – everyone has limitations on their resources and we all have limitations on our time.  So I would argue that in so many – in many ways, we could be spending even more time focused on the Indo-Pacific if somehow we could bring peace to the European continent.

QUESTION:  Thank you, sir. 

SECRETARY RUBIO:  I wanted to give you stuff so when we land you can at least say, hey, it was worth the trip.

QUESTION:  Thank you.  Appreciate it.

QUESTION:  Will you – will you brief us after the meeting?

SECRETARY RUBIO:  Yeah, I think.  Yeah, of course we will.  After the meeting tomorrow you mean?

SECRETARY RUBIO:  Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.