Informal Communication

Antony J. Blinken, Secretary of State

Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

Ritz-Carlton Hotel

QUESTION:  Mr. Secretary, thank you for joining us.

SECRETARY BLINKEN:  Thank you for having me.

QUESTION:  This is your sixth tour in the region since the war started in October.  Are you carrying any more initiatives to end the bloodshed in Gaza?

SECRETARY BLINKEN:  We are.  We’re pressing for an immediate ceasefire t

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

Topics: Climate and Environment, Energy, Refugee and Humanitarian Assistance, Science, Technology, and Innovation

Antony J. Blinken, Secretary of State

Washington, D.C.

Antony J. Blinken, Secretary of State

Antony J. Blinken, Secretary of State

Washington, D.C.

SECRETARY BLINKEN:  Good afternoon, everyone.  Georgios, my friend, welcome.  It is always good to see you and always an important occasion to say we’re so grateful for the partnership between our countries.  Administrator Nelson, Bill, wonderful to have you here today.  Dr. Daglis, you as well.  Thank you to both of you for all that you do to further our understanding of space to the benefit of everyone here on Earth.<

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Regions: Cyprus , Greece , Ukraine , United Kingdom , United States

Topics: Climate and Environment, Countering Terrorism, Energy, Global Health, Human Rights and Democracy, Refugee and Humanitarian Assistance, Science, Technology, and Innovation, The Ocean and Polar Affairs, Treaties and International Agreements

Antony J. Blinken, Secretary of State

The Department of State today is announcing the designation of Ansarallah, commonly referred to as the Houthis, as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist group, effective 30 days from today.

Since November, the Houthis have launched unprecedented attacks against international maritime vessels in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, as well as military forces positioned in the area to defend the safety and security of commercial shipping.  These attacks agains

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Regions: United States

Topics: Countering Terrorism, Refugee and Humanitarian Assistance

Antony J. Blinken, Secretary of State

Gemeinde Davos, Switzerland

Antony J. Blinken, Secretary of State

Washington, D.C.

QUESTION:  For the latest on the conflict, we’re joined now by Secretary of State Antony Blinken.  We appreciate your time this morning, Mr. Secretary.  You had five Democratic senators send a letter to you, the Defense Secretary, the President this week calling for increased accountability for Israel’s use of American weapons.  And yet your State Department is now pushing through the sale of 13,000 rounds of tank ammunition for

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Regions: Israel , Russia , Ukraine , United Kingdom , United States

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

Brussels, Belgium

NATO Headquarters

SECRETARY BLINKEN:  Well, good morning, everyone.  Espen, it’s great to be with you.  I am truly pleased for this opportunity to consult with one of our closest partners, closest Allies, a founding member of NATO, at a time of significant challenge but also incredible solidarity for our Alliance.  I know that we’ll be speaking together about our shared commitment to Ukraine as it continues to defend itse

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Regions: Norway , Ukraine , United Kingdom

Topics: The Ocean and Polar Affairs

Antony J. Blinken, Secretary of State

New Delhi, India

Sushma Swaraj Bhavan

EXTERNAL AFFAIRS MINISTER JAISHANKAR:  Good morning and welcome to the fifth India-U.S. 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue.  May I begin by inviting my senior colleague, the Minister of Defense Shri Rajnath Singh Ji, to make the opening remarks.

DEFENSE MINISTER SINGH:  Good morning, Excellencies.  Secretary Austin and Secretary Blinken, it is a great pleasure to r

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Regions: India , Japan , United Kingdom , United States

Topics: Combating Drugs and Crime, Economic Prosperity and Trade Policy, Energy, Refugee and Humanitarian Assistance, Science, Technology, and Innovation

Antony J. Blinken, Secretary of State

On October 23, 1983, Hizballah killed 241 U.S. military personnel, including 220 Marines, 18 sailors, and three soldiers in a terrorist bombing of the Marine Corps barracks in Beirut, Lebanon.  Minutes later, a second suicide bomber killed 58 French paratroopers.  Six innocent Lebanese civilians also lost their lives.  The abhorrent and shocking attack on the Beirut barracks remains to this day the single deadliest day for the U.S. Marine Corps since the Battl

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Regions: France , Lebanon

Topics: Countering Terrorism

Antony J. Blinken, Secretary of State

On behalf of the Government of the United States of America, I extend our congratulations to Equatorial Guinea in honor of the 55th anniversary of your independence on October 12.

The United States values our relationship with Equatorial Guinea, and we remain committed in our partnership to combat trafficking in persons, develop the initiative on Atlantic Cooperation, and promote maritime security and economic growth. In the coming year, we look forward

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Regions: Equatorial Guinea , Guinea , United States

Topics: Human Rights and Democracy, The Ocean and Polar Affairs

Antony J. Blinken, Secretary of State

Washington, D.C.

Benjamin Franklin Room

SECRETARY BLINKEN:  Good afternoon.  Welcome.  Welcome back to the State Department for so many of you.  Welcome to the Ben Franklin Room, newly refurbished.  A lot went into this.  And I think maybe a word about Ben Franklin before we get to today’s event.

As you all know, he was America’s first diplomat, ambassador to France, negotiated our first treaty, charted the Gulf Stream, pioneered el

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Topics: Climate and Environment, Coronavirus (COVID-19), Energy, Global Health, Human Rights and Democracy, Treaties and International Agreements

Antony J. Blinken, Secretary of State

Washington, D.C.

Benjamin Franklin Room

ASSISTANT SECRETARY KRITENBRINK:  Good evening, everyone.  Good evening, everyone, and welcome to the State Department and to the Benjamin Franklin Room.  Esteemed guests and friends from across the Pacific, it is my honor to welcome you tonight to our dinner program and to introduce our co-hosts, the Secretary of State Antony Blinken and the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfi

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Regions: Cook Islands , France , Palau , Russia , United Kingdom , United States

Topics: Climate and Environment, Coronavirus (COVID-19), Global Health, Treaties and International Agreements

Antony J. Blinken, Secretary of State

Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown

Washington, DC

Treaty Room

SECRETARY BLINKEN:  Well, good evening, everyone.  It’s a great pleasure to be here with Prime Minister Brown, and a particular pleasure because of the reason we’re here.  When we had the initial summit with our Pacific Island partners back in 2022, President Biden announced his intent to recognize the Cook Islands.  And today, with the exchange of letters signed by t

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Regions: Cook Islands , United States

Topics: Climate and Environment, Energy, Global Health, Human Rights and Democracy, Treaties and International Agreements

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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Topics: Climate and Environment, Combating Drugs and Crime, Countering Terrorism, Coronavirus (COVID-19), Economic Prosperity and Trade Policy, Energy, Global Health, Human Rights and Democracy, Refugee and Humanitarian Assistance, Science, Technology, and Innovation, The Ocean and Polar Affairs

Antony J. Blinken, Secretary of State

Kyiv, Ukraine

AMBASSADOR BRINK:  It is a privilege and an honor for me to be here with you as we give a very, very warm welcome to our Secretary of State, Tony Blinken.  Thank you, Mr. Secretary.  (Applause.)

As members of Mission Kyiv, we all know the challenges and the demands of this work.  The hours are long – sometimes dangerous – and the future can seem uncertain.  But we also know why we’re here and we know why it matters.  We are h

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Regions: Ukraine , United Kingdom , United States

Topics: Coronavirus (COVID-19), Economic Prosperity and Trade Policy, Human Rights and Democracy

Antony J. Blinken, Secretary of State

On behalf of the United States, I would like to congratulate the people of Gabon on the 63rd anniversary of your independence.

The United States stands ready to work directly with Gabon as it strives to diversify its economy, strengthen its maritime security, and counter illicit trafficking of its natural resources.  Our bilateral resolve to promote United States-Gabon trade, bolster Gabon’s security capacity, and further develop conservation efforts de

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Regions: Gabon , United States

Topics: Climate and Environment, Economic Prosperity and Trade Policy, Global Health, Human Rights and Democracy, The Ocean and Polar Affairs

Antony J. Blinken, Secretary of State

I welcome the news that the UN has completed a complex maritime operation in the Red Sea to safely offload the entirety of the oil onboard the FSO Safer, a decaying 47-year-old oil supertanker moored off Yemen’s Red Sea coast.  The Safer was at risk of an oil spill four times the size of the Exxon Valdez disaster.  Such a spill would have cost tens of billions of dollars to clean up and been an environmental, economic, and humanitarian catastrophe for the regi

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Regions: Yemen

Topics: Climate and Environment, Energy, Refugee and Humanitarian Assistance

Antony J. Blinken, Secretary of State

Brisbane, Australia

Government House Queensland

QUESTION:  Well, you’ve just wrapped up two days of intense talks.  What’s been the tone of the discussions here?

SECRETARY BLINKEN:  It’s hard to overstate how, first of all, much genuine friendship there is among the four of us – among the Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles, among the Foreign Minister Penny Wong and myself and Lloyd Austin.  So it starts

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Regions: Australia , China, Japan , Russia , Taiwan , Ukraine , United Kingdom , United States

Topics: Climate and Environment, Global Health

Antony J. Blinken, Secretary of State

PRIME MINISTER HU’AKAVAMEILIKU:  (In Tongan.)

It is a great honor to warmly welcome to the Kingdom of Tonga the Secretary of State of the United States of America, Mr. Antony Blinken.  The visit today by Secretary Blinken is historic.  It is the first visit by a sitting U.S. secretary of state to Tonga.  It is the highest-level visit we have received from the United States Government in our recent history.  There is a clear indication t

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Topics: Climate and Environment, Energy, Global Health, Human Rights and Democracy, Refugee and Humanitarian Assistance, Science, Technology, and Innovation, The Ocean and Polar Affairs

Antony J. Blinken, Secretary of State

Washington, D.C.

Dean Acheson Auditorium

SECRETARY BLINKEN:  Well, good afternoon, everyone.  Secretary Manalo, Secretary Galvez, it has been an honor to host you at the State Department for the third ever – and first since 2016 – U.S.-Philippines 2+2 Ministerial alongside Secretary of Defense Austin.  Today’s meeting builds on the momentum of the high-level U.S. visits to the Philippines just over the past year, including by Vice Presiden

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Regions: China, Japan , Philippines , Russia , Ukraine , United Kingdom , United States

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

Antony J. Blinken, Secretary of State

Washington, D.C.

Dirksen Senate Office Building

SECRETARY BLINKEN:  Well, thank you very much, Chairman Menendez, Ranking Member Risch, committee members.  Very good to be with you today as always, and thanks for the opportunity to speak to the administration’s proposed FY24 budget for the State Department and the Agency for International Development.

We meet at an inflection point and I think that’s reflected actually in what both

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Regions: China, Ukraine , United Kingdom , United States

Topics: Climate and Environment, Countering Terrorism, Energy, Global Health, Refugee and Humanitarian Assistance, Science, Technology, and Innovation, The Ocean and Polar Affairs

Antony J. Blinken, Secretary of State

Washington, D.C.

Dirksen Senate Office Building

SECRETARY BLINKEN:  Thank you very, very much.  Chairman Coons, Ranking Member Graham, very good to be with you.  Chair Murray, Vice Chair Collins, to all the committee members here today, thank you for this opportunity to speak with you about our proposed FY24 budget for the State Department and USAID.

And I think as you’ve both laid out in different ways, we are meeting at

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Regions: China, Ukraine , United Kingdom , United States

Topics: Climate and Environment, Countering Terrorism, Energy, Global Health, Refugee and Humanitarian Assistance, Science, Technology, and Innovation, The Ocean and Polar Affairs

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