Informal Communication

Antony J. Blinken, Secretary of State

Seoul, Republic of Korea

Shilla Hotel

SECRETARY BLINKEN:  Thank you, everyone.  Thank you, and good morning again.  Thank you.

So I again want to thank President Yoon and Foreign Minister Cho for bringing us together to discuss what is one of the most transformational forces that’s shaping our future, our world, our democracies – and that is artificial intelligence.

I think it’s hard to overstate the extent to which

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Antony J. Blinken, Secretary of State

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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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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Antony J. Blinken, Secretary of State

Tel Aviv, Israel

David Kempinski Hotel

PRESIDENT HERZOG:  Good morning, ladies and gentlemen.  Good morning, Secretary Blinken.  As always, it’s such a pleasure to have you in Israel.  This is your fourth trip already in this Gaza war, and we are very grateful to you for your support and for your steadfast commitment to Israel’s safety and to making sure that Israel wins this war, because it’s a war that affects international values and th

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Antony J. Blinken, Secretary of State

Washington, D.C.

QUESTION:  Joining me now is Secretary of State Antony Blinken.  Mr. Secretary, thanks for joining us.  So the U.S. stood alone at the UN Security Council on Friday to block the ceasefire, and the administration is sidestepping Congress to rush more weapons to Israel.  You said this week there is, quote, a “gap between … the intent to protect civilians, and the actual results that we’re seeing on the ground” in Gaza.  Can you de

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The Secretary of State

We live by the principle that all persons are born free and equal with inherent human rights. This principle – a product of foresight and humility by those who came before us – was enshrined 75 years ago today by the UN General Assembly when it adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). The UDHR, now endorsed by nearly every country in the world, enumerates the human rights that must be universally protected, and sets a common standard of liberty and dignity f

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Antony J. Blinken, Secretary of State

The United States is marking Human Rights Day and the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on December 10th by taking actions to promote accountability for human rights abuses and violations.  Together, the Departments of State and the Treasury today have imposed visa restrictions and sanctions on 37 individuals in 13 countries.

With today’s actions, the United States is addressing some of the most challenging and harmful forms

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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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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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Antony J. Blinken, Secretary of State

Cairo, Egypt

Cairo East Air Base

QUESTION:  Welcome with us —

SECRETARY BLINKEN:  Thank you.

QUESTION:  — Mr.  Secretary.  Well, actually, you have, well, a very hectic regional trip that included eight countries, that started with Israel, and one of its most important aims was to support Israel.  Have you discussed with Israeli leaders the de-escalation of their military operation in Gaza?

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The Secretary of State

Cairo, Egypt

Cairo Airport

SECRETARY BLINKEN:  Good evening, everyone.  We are here at what is an extremely difficult and very tenuous time for the region in the wake of the slaughter perpetrated by Hamas.

We came here with four key objectives: to make clear that the United States stands with Israel; to prevent the conflict from spreading to other places; to work on securing the release of hostages, including American citizens; and to address the

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The Secretary of State

Cairo, Egypt

Al-Ittihadiya Palace

PRESIDENT SISI:  (Via interpreter)  Mr. Secretary, welcome.  I’m very pleased to see you – welcome to Egypt – and distinguished members of your delegation.

I know that this is the last of your big tour in the region.  I commend this enormous effort that you’re making to – let me tell you, Mr. Secretary, that the crisis is quite unprecedented, and we need forceful work, we need our strong determination to make sure

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Antony J. Blinken, Secretary of State

New York City, New York

United Nations Headquarters

SECRETARY BLINKEN:  Thank you very much.  Mr. Prime Minister, thank you for focusing the Security Council on this critically important issue.  And Mr. Secretary-General, thank you for the moral clarity that you’ve shown in dealing with Russia’s war against Ukraine.

We’re grateful to have been able to welcome President Zelenskyy to this council table, and we thank him.  We thank him

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Antony J. Blinken, Secretary of State

Washington, D.C.

SECRETARY BLINKEN:  Thank you.  Good morning, everyone.

AUDIENCE:  Good morning.

SECRETARY BLINKEN:  Dean Steinberg, Jim, thank you for the honor of joining the SAIS community to help inaugurate this truly magnificent new home.

Jim has contributed so much over his remarkable career, but his most lasting contribution is the generation of thinkers, the generation of d

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Antony J. Blinken, Secretary of State

Members of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Darfur have committed atrocities and other abuses, inducing ethnically motivated killings, targeted abuses against human rights activists and defenders, conflict-related sexual violence, and looting and burning of communities. In response, the Department of State and Department of the Treasury are taking actions against two of its senior commanders.

The Department of State is imposin

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Antony J. Blinken, Secretary of State

On August 25,  the sixth anniversary of genocide against Rohingya, the United States stands with the victims and survivors and reaffirms our commitment to pursue justice and accountability for the atrocities committed by the Burma military.  We are deeply grateful to the Government and the people of Bangladesh for giving shelter and refuge to nearly one million Rohingya, as well as o

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Antony J. Blinken, Secretary of State

Kyiv, Ukraine

Aired on August 23, 2023

SECRETARY BLINKEN:  Hello, everyone.  Thank you, President Zelenskyy, for convening us for the third Crimea Platform Summit.

We meet at the 18-month mark of Russia’s brutal full-scale war against Ukraine.  For 18 months, the Ukrainian people have endured a constant assault against their lives and their country’s future.  They’ve seen their homes, their schools, their houses of worship

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Antony J. Blinken, Secretary of State

Ten years ago the Assad regime launched rockets carrying the deadly nerve agent sarin into the Ghouta district of Damascus, killing more than 1,400 people.

The United States remembers and honors the victims and survivors of the Ghouta attack and of the other chemical attacks launched by the Assad regime. Ten years on, we continue to seek justice and accountability for those responsible for these horrific acts.

Despite its international obligation

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Antony J. Blinken, Secretary of State

Karuizawa, Japan

The Prince Karuizawa

SECRETARY BLINKEN:  Good afternoon, everyone.  Let me – let me start with the situation in Sudan.  For the past 36 hours, we and our partners have been focused on how to stop the widespread fighting in Sudan between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces.  Indiscriminate military operations have resulted in significant civilian deaths and injuries, and are recklessly endangering the Su

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Antony J. Blinken, Secretary of State

Brussels, Belgium

European Council Building

HIGH REPRESENTATIVE BORRELL: Good morning. Good morning. I’m very happy to welcome you, Secretary Blinken, in Brussels. We just had a very good bilateral meeting marking our great transatlantic cooperation. Now we will co-chair the EU-U.S. Energy Council, and later we will see each other also at the NATO Ministerial.

Allow me some words about our bilateral discussion.  Certainly

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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

The United States continues to promote accountability for the Burmese military regime’s assault on the democratic aspirations of the people of Burma.  Today we are designating two individuals and six entities.  The regime continues to inflict pain and suffering on the people of Burma.

The U.S. Department of the Treasury is imposing sanctions on Tun Min Latt and his spouse Win Min Soe, as well as three entities owned or controlled by Tun Min Latt.

Antony J. Blinken, Secretary of State

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Addis Ababa University

SECRETARY BLINKEN:  Well, good evening, everyone.  It is great to be back in Africa, but also to make my first appearance to Ethiopia as Secretary of State.

I’m here in Ethiopia – and then on to Niger – to reaffirm the pledge that President Biden made at the U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit late last year.  As he put it, the United States is “all in on Africa, and all in with Africa.”  That mea

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Office of the Spokesperson

The below is attributable to Spokesperson Ned Price:

Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken met with Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed today to discuss a range of issues critical to the U.S.-Ethiopia relationship.

During the meeting, Secretary Blinken and Prime Minister Abiy discussed the significant progress in implementing the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement following the silencing of the guns in northern Ethio

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