Informal Communication

Antony J. Blinken, Secretary of State

Washington, D.C.

SECRETARY BLINKEN:  Good morning, good afternoon, good evening, everyone.  Thank you all so much for joining.  It’s very good to be with friends and partners from around the world as we prepare to open the second Summit for Democracy.

In his first year in office, President Biden launched the summit to look at the future of democracy, which we see is at an inflection point.  Worldwide, we see autocrats violating human right

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Antony J. Blinken, Secretary of State

Washington, D.C.

Press Briefing Room

SECRETARY BLINKEN:  Good afternoon, everyone.  Good to see you all.

I suspect that most of you are looking forward to what will be a well-deserved break.  It’s been quite a year.

When I walked into the State Department on my first day as Secretary, we had COVID-19 lockdowns around the world.

Less than 1 percent of the United States was vaccinated, compared to more than 60

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Antony J. Blinken, Secretary of State

Stockholm, Sweden

CMR

QUESTION:  Mr. Secretary, it’s a great pleasure to have you with us.

SECRETARY BLINKEN:  Thanks for having me.

QUESTION:  So you sat down with Mr. Lavrov, Russia’s foreign minister, in Stockholm.  What was your message to him?

SECRETARY BLINKEN:  The message was simple and straightforward, and we had a very direct conversation – not polemical, serious.  And serious because we

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Antony J. Blinken, Secretary of State

Rome, Italy

Villa Taverna

QUESTION:  Secretary Blinken, Russia is considered the mind of cyber attacks and disinformation campaigns that try to destabilize Western democracies.  What is, in your opinion, the goal of Moscow?  And what – which is the best way to fight?

SECRETARY BLINKEN:  Well, it’s hard to say what Russia’s goal is because it’s hard to put oneself in – necessarily the mind of Russian leade

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Michael R. Pompeo, Secretary of State

Washington, D.C.

QUESTION: So good afternoon and welcome to the 548th meeting of the Economic Club of New York, and I’m Marie-Josee Kravis, the chair emerita of the Economic Club of New York and a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute. Just reminding you that the Economic Club is one of the nation’s leading nonpartisan forums for discussions of economic, social, and political issues, and I think our mission is as important today as ever

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