In 2023, US will continue to enhance its strategic position: White House

In 2023, the United States will continue to enhance its strategic position over the long haul, the White House said Tuesday.

"This is a decisive decade, and we are focused on how we compete vigorously to advance our interest while building diverse coalitions to address the biggest challenges of our time," White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters at her daily news conference.

In 2022, US President Joe Biden hosted and met with leaders of the Americas, of Africa, of Southwest Asia, the Middle East, and the Pacific Islands.

That is something that the President did in just one year alone. He has attended very consequential: the G7, the G20, and NATO summits, she said.

 

"This year, you will continue to see us enhance our strategic position over the long haul by doing a couple of things here that I'll list out: making significant investment in the sources of America's domestic strength; standing with Ukraine and standing up for the principles of an international order that protects sovereignty and territorial integrity and rejects aggression in Europe and also around the world; protecting Americans from threats at home and around the world as well, whether it's terrorism or cyberattacks; and building flexible coalition worldwide on food security, climate, technology, and other key issue, Jean-Pierre said.

So, this is how the President sees his foreign policy moving forward. This is what we've been able to do in the first two years. So, this is incredibly important to the President, she said.

Responding to a question on peace prospects, the press secretary said nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine. That's how we see this approach. And that is the consensus of this administration. We all support a just peace. That is something that we all support, she said.

"You heard the President say those very words at the press conference -- the 2+2 that he did when President Zelenskyy made his first trip in 300 days since the Russian aggression started, she noted.

But when we talk about just peace, that must include UN principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity, as I just laid out as we look at our 2023 goals. It's a hard to take seriously the idea that Russia is prepared for good-faith diplomacy when they are doubling down, she said.

They are doubling down on annexing Ukrainian territory and insisting they get to keep it. And that's what they're doing. So that's not a basis for real diplomacy at all. Our job is to keep supporting Ukraine on the battlefield so that they're in the best position to negotiate at the table when that does occur, Jean-Pierre said.