Informal Communication

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

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Me.reka Makerspace

MR SINGH:   Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen.  Welcome to our warm, fantastic YSEALI leaders, who are creating impact across Malaysia and ASEAN, joining us physically and virtually.

Our guest of honor today needs no introduction.  The Secretary of State of the United States of America, Mr. Antony Blinken, is here with us.

Now, from our humble team, from Biji-biji in America, I mus

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Antony J. Blinken, Secretary of State

Washington, D.C.

Four Seasons Hotel

MR BARKER:  (In progress) at this somewhat busy time.  So we need to start, I think, on the tensions between Russia and Ukraine.  Presidents Biden and Putin have just finished a virtual call.  You’ve talked in the past about your deep concerns about Russia’s renewed plans for aggression in Ukraine with obviously a lot of troops massed at the border.

After this call, are you more or less

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Antony J. Blinken, Secretary of State

Washington, DC

Benjamin Franklin Room

SECRETARY BLINKEN:  Well, good morning, everyone.  It’s really a pleasure to welcome Foreign Minister Shoukry and all of the members of the Egyptian delegation here as we open the Egypt-U.S. Strategic Dialogue.  Sameh, welcome again.  It’s great to have you back in Washington.  We had the opportunity to meet in Cairo many months ago now, then in New York during the UN General Assembly.  We’ve

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Antony J. Blinken, Secretary of State

Via Teleconference

QUESTION:  Joining me now from Rome is the Secretary of State, Antony Blinken.  Mr. Secretary, thank you so much for joining me.  I want to start by what happened here in the U.S.  President Biden went to Capitol Hill.  He asked for a deal before he left for COP26.  And Speaker Pelosi told House Democrats not to, quote, “embarrass” President Biden on the world stage.  But as you know, t

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Antony J. Blinken, Secretary of State

Washington, D.C.

Benjamin Franklin Room

SECRETARY BLINKEN:  Well, good morning or, almost, good afternoon, everyone.  Just over a year ago, the leaders of Israel and the United Arab Emirates signed the Abraham Accords.  Today, I am honored to host Foreign Minister Lapid, Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah, to review the progress that’s been made in the past year in the normalization of relations, and what more

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Antony J. Blinken, Secretary of State

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

IBEW Local #5

SECRETARY BLINKEN: Good afternoon. You all spent some quality time in Pittsburgh, I hope. I don’t want to leave. It’s been great. What’s going on?

QUESTION: So yesterday you said you were enthusiastic about the TTC meeting. Would you say the European Union and the United States are moving past their grievances or are you still concerned about European leaders feeling

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Antony J. Blinken, Secretary of State

Kuwait City, Kuwait

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

FOREIGN MINISTER AL-SABAH:  (Via interpreter)  To start, I would like to welcome my friend, Mr. State Secretary Antony Blinken, in his visit, first visit to Kuwait, while I am a minister of – foreign affairs minister.  We were honored today in the morning to meet his highness the amir of the country, Sheikh Jaber (inaudible) Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, and also his highness the prime – the c

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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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Antony J. Blinken, Secretary of State

Berlin, Germany

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

FOREIGN MINISTER MAAS:  (Via interpreter) Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the federal foreign office.  A very warm welcome to Berlin, dear Tony, or rather, welcome back.  After all, weren’t you in Europe only last week?  And during that visit, President Biden and your delegation underlined impressively that America is back, back on the international and multilateral scene, and we’re ex

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Antony J. Blinken, Secretary of State

Jerusalem

David Citadel Hotel

QUESTION:  Secretary of State Antony Blinken, welcome.  Thank you very much for talking to us today.

SECRETARY BLINKEN:  Hi.  Good to be with you.

QUESTION:  This isn’t – you’re of course not a stranger to the region.  This is far from being your first time here, but it’s the first time as Secretary of State.  And I wanted to begin by asking you about t

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Antony J. Blinken, Secretary of State

Jerusalem

David Citadel Hotel

SECRETARY BLINKEN:  Good evening, everyone.  Ah, must be a slow night.  (Laughter.)  Good to see you all.

We had, as those of you who’ve been along with us all day know, a fairly busy and certainly very productive day in Jerusalem and Ramallah since arriving this morning.  I traveled here at the request of President Biden, who asked me to come to pursue four basic objectives.  First, to demons

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Antony J. Blinken, Secretary of State

Kyiv, Ukraine

Hyatt Regency Hotel

QUESTION:  Thank you very much, Mr. Secretary.

SECRETARY BLINKEN:  It’s great to be with you.

QUESTION:  Thank you for being here.  First of all, Vladimir Putin had said he would withdraw; he has not.  U.S. officials say there are 80,000 troops still on the border; he’s left his tanks and artillery, a continuing threat to Ukraine.  What is your mess

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Antony J. Blinken, Secretary of State

London, England

Grosvenor House Hotel

QUESTION:  Antony Blinken, good to see you, and thanks for being with us at the Global Boardroom.

SECRETARY BLINKEN:  Great to join you.  Thank you.

QUESTION:  Let’s start – let’s start with the pandemic.  The U.S. wants to lead the global response to COVID-19.  We always hear that.  But at the same time, there have been criticism that, one, you

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Antony J. Blinken, Secretary of State

Washington, D.C.

Recorded on April 9, 2021

MR MEASSICK:  Secretary Blinken, the embassy is delighted to have this unique opportunity to engage with you on clean energy.  Kenya is not only a leader in the region, but also poised to become a global leader for clean energy and climate action.  Currently, 90 percent of Kenya’s power is generated from renewable sources with 40 percent generated from geothermal, 45 percent from hydropo

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Antony J. Blinken, Secretary of State

Lloyd J. Austin, Secretary of Defense

Jens Stoltenberg, NATO Secretary General

Brussels, Belgium

NATO Headquarters

MODERATOR:  Good evening.  Welcome to NATO Headquarters, to this press conference with the Secretary General, the Secretary of State, and the Secretary of Defense.  They will make short introductory statements, and then we’ll be able to take a few questions.  Secretary General.

SECRETARY