National Security Advisor on hostage rescue, Ukraine and China

(CBS, KYMA/KECY) - Jake Sullivan, White House National Security Advisor, spoke with Margaret Brennan on Face the Nation Sunday about the latest hostage rescue from Hamas and the ongoing conflict in the region.

"By far, the most effective, certain and right way to get all of the hostages out is to get a comprehensive ceasefire and hostage deal that President Biden described, in public, a few days ago that Israel has accepted and now that we are awaiting Hamas to respond to."

Jake Sullivan, White House National Security Advisor

Brennan and Sullivan talked about a ceasefire and hostage deal between Israel and Hamas.

"A couple of weeks ago, the State Department put out a comprehensive report that didn't just speak in generalities, it went into specific incidents that raised real concerns...We do not have enough information to reach definitive conclusions about particular incidents or to make legal determinations, but we do have enough information to have concern...more than concern, our hearts break about the loss of innocent Palestinian life. The President himself has said publicly that Palestinians, innocent Palestinians, are going through sheer hell in this conflict, and a lot of that is because Hamas has put them in an impossible situation. Hamas hides among the civilian population, holds hostages among the civilian population, fires at the IDF from behind the civilian population. And so yes, we have asked Israel to take steps to be more precise and targeted in its military operations. But there is only one answer to all of this, and it's the answer I keep coming back to, which is a ceasefire and hostage deal that would end the suffering, end the conflict, end the war, and bring all of the hostages home. That is what President Biden has advocated for vigorously and relentlessly over the past many days. The G7 has called for it. Our Arab partners have called for it. Even the United Nations is stepping up to call for it. So it's time for Hamas to come to the table, say yes, and let's end all of the suffering that is taking place in Gaza right now."

Jake Sullivan, White House National Security Advisor

During the interview, Brennan and Sullivan talked about the war in Ukraine, where Brennan asked Sullivan if Biden's choice to approve to allow Ukraine to use U.S. provided weapons to fire across the Russian border made a difference on the battlefield, to which Sullivan responded by saying:

"From the President's perspective, this was common sense. What was happening up around Kharkiv, which was new just in the last couple of months, was a Russian offensive where they were moving from one side of the border directly to the other side of the border, and it simply didn't make sense not to allow the Ukrainians to fire across that border, to hit Russian guns and emplacements that were firing at the Ukrainians. So the President authorized that. The Ukrainians have carried out that authorization on the battlefield. And one thing I will point out is that the momentum of that operation in Kharkiv has stalled out. Now, Kharkiv is still under threat, but the Russians have not been able to make material progress on the ground in recent days in that area, and the United States will continue to support Ukraine in holding the line and pushing back against the aggressing Russian forces."

Jake Sullivan, White House National Security Advisor

Talks then came to the U.S.'s attempt of arms control in China.

"In the last few months, China has showed a greater willingness, not a lower willingness to engage with us on questions related to proliferation and arms control. Those are nascent conversations. They're nothing like the kinds of intense arms control negotiations that we had with the Soviet Union at the height of the Cold War or Russia in the post-Cold War era, but it's the beginning of a dialog, and we will continue down that track at the same time that we ensure we have a credible nuclear deterrent so that the United States is secure and all of our allies are secure as well."

Jake Sullivan, White House National Security Advisor

To watch more of Brennan's interview with Sullivan, click here.