Informal Communication

Antony J. Blinken, Secretary of State

Tel Aviv, Israel

David Kempinski Hotel

SECRETARY BLINKEN:  Good evening.  This is my fifth visit to the region and seventh visit to Israel since October 7th.  I’m back first and foremost to consult directly with our partners on the joint efforts to bring all of the remaining hostages home.  I’ve met with families of the hostages multiple times during prior visits, as well as in Washington, and I expect to see them again tomorrow.

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Regions: Egypt , Iran , Israel , Lebanon , Qatar , Saudi Arabia , Ukraine , United Kingdom , United States

Topics: Countering Terrorism, Refugee and Humanitarian Assistance

Antony J. Blinken, Secretary of State

Doha, Qatar

Diwan Annex

PRIME MINISTER AL THANI: (Via interpreter) In the name of God the merciful, the compassionate, peace be upon you.  I am pleased to welcome His Excellency Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Doha.  We have had several meetings in the past weeks, so whether in Doha, Washington, and today we meet again in Doha.

First, I would like to inform the media that we have received a reply from Hamas with regar

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Regions: France , Gaza Strip , Iran , Iraq , Israel , Italy , Jordan , Qatar , Syria , United Kingdom , United States

Topics: Economic Prosperity and Trade Policy, Refugee and Humanitarian Assistance

Antony J. Blinken, Secretary of State

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg

SECRETARY BLINKEN:  Well, good afternoon, everyone.  First, let me say what a pleasure it is as always to have Secretary General Stoltenberg here in Washington at the State Department.  Let me first note the drone attack yesterday by Iranian-backed militia on U.S. forces in Jordan.  It killed three of our soldiers, wounded many others. First and foremost, I’m thinking of those who lost the

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Regions: Canada , China, Egypt , Finland , Hungary , Iran , Iraq , Israel , Korea, North , Qatar , Russia , Sweden , Syria , Ukraine , United Kingdom , United States

Topics: Climate and Environment, Countering Terrorism, Global Health, Human Rights and Democracy, Refugee and Humanitarian Assistance, Science, Technology, and Innovation

Antony J. Blinken, Secretary of State

Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire

Africa Cup of Nations at Stade Olympique Alassane Ouattara D'Ebimpé

Via Translation

QUESTION:  Hello everyone, and welcome to this exceptional edition.  As you may have understood, we are outside the premises of RTI, with an exceptional guest.  Indeed, Antony Blinken, the U.S. Secretary of State, is currently in Côte d’Ivoire as part of his African tour.  He has granted us an interview, an exclusive by

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Regions: Equatorial Guinea , Guinea , Nigeria , United Kingdom , United States

Topics: Climate and Environment, Economic Prosperity and Trade Policy, Energy, Global Health

Antony J. Blinken, Secretary of State

Davos, Switzerland

World Economic Forum

Antony J. Blinken, Secretary of State

Tel Aviv, Israel

The David Kempinski Tel Aviv Hotel

QUESTION:  Mr. Secretary, thank you so much for being with us today.

SECRETARY BLINKEN:  Good to be with you, Andrea.

QUESTION:  This is the fourth time you have been in Israel since October 7th, and you have said from the beginning that massacre had to be responded to, that Israel had to invade.  But now it’s been a hundred days;

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Regions: Iran , Israel , Lebanon , Qatar , United Kingdom , United States , West Bank

Topics: Refugee and Humanitarian Assistance

Antony J. Blinken, Secretary of State

Dean Acheson Auditorium

SECRETARY BLINKEN:  Well, good afternoon, everyone.  It’s genuinely a pleasure to welcome Foreign Secretary Cameron here to the State Department, to Washington.  The infamous special relationship has never been more important than it is now, and I think that’s reflected in the conversations we’ve had.  Actually, we began on the phone almost immediately after your appointment, then we were in Brussels together jus

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Regions: British Indian Ocean, China, Finland , France , Guyana , Iran , Israel , Mauritius , Qatar , Russia , Rwanda , Taiwan , Ukraine , United Kingdom , United States , Venezuela , West Bank

Topics: Climate and Environment, Countering Terrorism, Economic Prosperity and Trade Policy, Global Health, Human Rights and Democracy, Refugee and Humanitarian Assistance, The Ocean and Polar Affairs, Treaties and International Agreements

Antony J. Blinken, Secretary of State

New Delhi, India

Leela Palace

SECRETARY BLINKEN:  Good afternoon.  So we just had a very productive 2+2 session with Secretary of Defense Austin and our Indian counterparts.  This builds on the important visit that Prime Minister Modi made to the United States followed by President Biden’s visit here for the G20.  And we continue – India and the United States – to deepen our partnership, to deepen our collaboration on everything

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Regions: Canada , India , Israel , United Kingdom , United States

Topics: Countering Terrorism, Refugee and Humanitarian Assistance

Antony J. Blinken, Secretary of State

Tokyo, Japan

The Okura

QUESTION:  Okay, so thank you so much for sharing your time with us today.  Let me start with this question.  As you have repeatedly mentioned, Israel has the right to defend itself.  But at the same time, that does not mean they can do anything – that’s what we all understand.  And I believe that is one of the reasons why you have visit the Middle East twice a month, and talked with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu

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Regions: China, Israel , Japan , Korea, South , Ukraine , United Kingdom , United States , West Bank

Topics: Countering Terrorism, Refugee and Humanitarian Assistance

Antony J. Blinken, Secretary of State

Amman, Jordan

St. Regis Hotel

DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER SAFADI: Good evening to you all.  I’ll start in Arabic and then I’ll switch to English if you don’t mind.  So —

(Via interpreter) In the name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Gracious, I welcome Their Excellencies Sameh, Tony and the other colleagues, the foreign ministers of United Arab Emirates and Qatar and Saudi Arabia, and the secretary general of the Palestinian

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Regions: Egypt , Gaza Strip , Israel , Jordan , Qatar , United Arab Emirates , United Kingdom , United States

Topics: Countering Terrorism, Refugee and Humanitarian Assistance

Antony J. Blinken, Secretary of State

Washington, D.C.

Benjamin Franklin Room

QUESTION:  And joining me now is Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who recently returned from a whirlwind diplomatic trip to the Middle East, which took him to Egypt, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Israel, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia twice.  Secretary Blinken, welcome back to Meet the Press.

SECRETARY BLINKEN:  Good morning, Kristen.  Good to be with you.

QUESTION:

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