Informal Communication

Antony J. Blinken, Secretary of State

New Delhi, India

QUESTION:  Mr. Secretary, thank you for joining us.  I want to begin with that devastating earthquake this weekend in Morocco.  What is the United States doing to assist in the relief, recovery, search and rescue operation there?

SECRETARY BLINKEN:  Jon, you’re right; it is devastating.  And we’ve reached out immediately to the Moroccan Government, made very clear to them that we are prepared to

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

Antony J. Blinken, Secretary of State

Kyiv, Ukraine

FOREIGN MINISTER KULEBA: (Via interpreter) Tony, welcome to Kyiv.  I think that there is – we don’t need any formal greetings because during this time with joint work – specifically with the beginning of the large-scale invasion – our relationship with the Ukraine and United States, they went to such level that we don’t need a – we need everything – what we need is just open and sincere conversation.  And this is what

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Regions: Norway , Russia , Saudi Arabia , Ukraine , United Kingdom , United States

Topics: Energy, Human Rights and Democracy, Refugee and Humanitarian Assistance

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

Washington, D.C.

Press Briefing Room

SECRETARY BLINKEN:  Good morning.  Good morning.

QUESTION:  Good morning.

QUESTION:  Well, barely morning.  (Laughter.)

SECRETARY BLINKEN:  Speak for yourself, Matt.

Very good to see everyone here.  Actually, I kind of hoped more of you might be on vacation by now but – (laughter) – I see we have a pretty full house

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

Antony J. Blinken, Secretary of State

Washington, D.C.

QUESTION:  Well, we’re now joined by the U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken to discuss the Black Sea Grain Initiative and food security.  He’s joining us from Washington, D.C.

Secretary Blinken, thanks so much for making time for Focus on Africa.  And I’ll get straight into it.  Russia says it will only return to the Black Sea grain deal if reconnected to the SWIFT payment system.  And all this is happening w

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Regions: Niger , Russia , United Kingdom , United States

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

Antony J. Blinken, Secretary of State

Washington, D.C.

QUESTION:   Okay.  So I’m going to start by asking you a little bit about the Brazil role in this global crisis of food insecurity because the Brazilian president has a position of neutrality in the war.  Lula has already spoken to President Zelenskyy, President Vladimir Putin.  And do you believe this puts him in a good place to perhaps mediate a talk with – and try to convince Russia to go back to the grain agreement

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Regions: Brazil , Russia , Ukraine , United Kingdom

Topics: Climate and Environment, Coronavirus (COVID-19), Energy, Global Health

Antony J. Blinken, Secretary of State

Washington, D.C.

Via Translation

QUESTION: Hello, Mr. Secretary.

SECRETARY BLINKEN: Hello.

QUESTION: Thank you for answering RFI’s questions.  You recently accused Russia of blackmail regarding the Black Sea Grain Initiative.  Indeed, Moscow demanded several conditions for their participation in the agreement.  Is the United States willing to negotiate?

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Regions: France , Niger , Russia , Ukraine , United Kingdom , United States

Topics: Energy

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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Topics: Climate and Environment, Global Health

Antony J. Blinken, Secretary of State

Aspen, Colorado

Aspen Security Forum

QUESTION:  Mr. Secretary, pleasure to have you on.

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

QUESTION:  Tell us what you can sense of what is going on in the counteroffensive that Ukraine is managing – attempting with Russia.  So far the reports seem to be, it is very slow and very tough going.

SECRETARY BLINKEN:  Well, first, Fareed, put this in pe

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Regions: China, France , Iran , Israel , Japan , Russia , Ukraine , United Kingdom , United States

Topics: Climate and Environment, Refugee and Humanitarian Assistance

Antony J. Blinken, Secretary of State

Aspen, Colorado

Aspen Meadows Resort

MS MITCHELL:  Good morning, everyone.  It’s wonderful to be back in Aspen, and especially after such a great program all week, and most especially to be with Secretary Blinken.

SECRETARY BLINKEN:  Thank you.

MS MITCHELL:  Tony Blinken, of course, you all know, but – (applause) – I think this is your first time here since becoming Secretary.

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Topics: Arms Control and Nonproliferation, Climate and Environment, Combating Drugs and Crime, Coronavirus (COVID-19), Economic Prosperity and Trade Policy, Global Health, Human Rights and Democracy, Science, Technology, and Innovation

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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Topics: Arms Control and Nonproliferation, Climate and Environment, Economic Prosperity and Trade Policy, Energy, Global Health, Refugee and Humanitarian Assistance, Science, Technology, and Innovation

Antony J. Blinken, Secretary of State

Karuizawa, Japan

The Prince Karuizawa

SECRETARY BLINKEN:  Well, good morning or almost good afternoon, everyone.  The foreign secretary and I have just spent the last almost three days with our G7 colleagues covering pretty much the entire planet, and I think we both come away from the G7 – well, I should just speak for myself, but I imagine it’s the same – I think feeling very positively about the very strong convergence among all of the

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Regions: Japan , United Kingdom , United States

Topics: Arms Control and Nonproliferation

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

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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Topics: Climate and Environment, Economic Prosperity and Trade Policy, Energy, Human Rights and Democracy, Refugee and Humanitarian Assistance, Science, Technology, and Innovation

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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Topics: Arms Control and Nonproliferation, Climate and Environment, Coronavirus (COVID-19), Economic Prosperity and Trade Policy, Energy, Global Health, Human Rights and Democracy, Refugee and Humanitarian Assistance, 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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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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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

Niamey, Niger

Presidential Palace

QUESTION:  Mr. Secretary, thanks very much for taking this opportunity.  We appreciate it.

SECRETARY BLINKEN:  Thanks, Shaun.  Good to be with you.

QUESTION:  Thanks.  I wanted to ask you – I understand you’re going to announce some assistance today for the Sahel, but I wanted to ask you more broadly about the Sahel strategy.  This has been a few months since the French ended th

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Topics: Arms Control and Nonproliferation, Countering Terrorism, Human Rights and Democracy

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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Regions: China, Ethiopia , Iran , Russia , Saudi Arabia , Ukraine , United Kingdom , United States , Zambia

Topics: Arms Control and Nonproliferation, Climate and Environment, Coronavirus (COVID-19), Economic Prosperity and Trade Policy, Energy, Global Health, Human Rights and Democracy, Refugee and Humanitarian Assistance, Science, Technology, and Innovation

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