Informal Communication

Antony J. Blinken, Secretary of State

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

JW Marriott Hotel

QUESTION:  Secretary Blinken, thank you so much for the interview.

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

QUESTION:  Why don’t I start asking about a very important topic for both of our countries?  Democracy was one of the main topics between your meeting with President Lula.  And what do you think that the two countries can learn with each other in t

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

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

Abidjan, Côte D’Ivoire

SECRETARY BLINKEN:  Thank you very much.  Well, good afternoon, everyone.   And for me, it was both a pleasure and fascinating to be here, both with my colleague from the African Development Bank and also from AfricaRice, just to see the extraordinary work that’s being done to get to a place where, as President Biden has said, Africa feeds itself – and actually, more than itself, a place where Africa feeds the wor

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Antony J. Blinken, Secretary of State

Davos, Switzerland

World Economic Forum

SECRETARY BLINKEN:  John, thank you very much.

(Applause.)

Thank you.  Thank you.  Good afternoon.  John, my old friend, thank you very, very much.  And as always, here, it’s particularly good to be with leaders from across government, business, civil society.  So when you think about soil, the U.S. Secretary of State is probably not the first person who comes to mind.  (Laugh

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Antony J. Blinken, Secretary of State

Tokyo, Japan

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

FOREIGN MINISTER KAMIKAWA:  (Via interpreter) Tony, please let me begin by extending my heartfelt welcome on your visit to Japan.  First and foremost, I would like to take this opportunity to express my heartfelt condolences to the victims, including U.S. citizens, of the recent terrorist attacks by Hamas and other Palestinian militants, and express my sympathies to the grieving families. 

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Antony J. Blinken, Secretary of State

Jose W. Fernandez, Under Secretary for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment

Ramin Toloui, Assistant SecretaryBureau of Economic and Business Affairs

Washington, D.C.

Benjamin Franklin Room

MODERATOR:  Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the Secretary of State Antony Blinken; Under Secretary for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment Jose Fernandez; Special Representative for Commercial and Business Af

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Antony J. Blinken, Secretary of State

Austin, Texas

The University of Texas at Austin

MR EDGAR:  All right.  Welcome, everyone.  Please, if you haven’t already, take your seats, and we’ll begin the program shortly.  My name is Paul Edgar, and I am the interim executive director of the Clements Center for National Security.  On behalf of the Clements Center and the Strauss Center for International Security and Law, welcome to a conversation on the state of foreign aff

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Antony J. Blinken, Secretary of State

On behalf of the Government and the people of the United States of America, I extend to Prime Minister Sudani and the Iraqi people our sincere congratulations as you celebrate your independence.

The 360-degree strategic partnership that exists between our two countries continues to advance our shared values as we work together to address global challenges like tackling climate change, promoting economic development, advancing human rights, protecting th

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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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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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Antony J. Blinken, Secretary of State

New York City, New York

Rockefeller Foundation

SECRETARY BLINKEN:  Thank you.  Thank you very, very much.  So we’re, what, about halfway through High-Level Week, I think – (laughter) – which is known at the department basically as speed-dating for diplomats.  And we have lots of events, lots of meetings, lots of gatherings.  But I have to tell you I was really looking forward to this particular meeting, this particular gathering,

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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

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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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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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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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

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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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

Washington, D.C.

Burns Auditorium

ASSISTANT SECRETARY NICHOLS: Good morning. Buenos días. I would like to welcome all of you, especially our guests from Colombia. Bienvenidos a todos. This is the 10th year we mark the – this High-Level Dialogue, and we are honored to host this year. The High-Level Dialogues present remarkable opportunities to engage at a deeper level on our shared interests. The dialogue continu

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Antony J. Blinken, Secretary of State

On behalf of the United States of America, I would like to convey my warmest congratulations to the people of Bangladesh on your Independence Day.

As you celebrate your 53rd Independence Day, Bangladesh has many reasons to be proud. With a rapidly growing economy, an increasingly well-educated workforce, and a dynamic youth demographic, Bangladesh is quickly becoming a regional leader. By generously welcoming Rohingya fleeing genocide, you have demonstr

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Topics: Climate and Environment, Coronavirus (COVID-19), Global Health, Human Rights and Democracy, Refugee and Humanitarian Assistance

Antony J. Blinken, Secretary of State

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

U.S. Logistics Center Warehouse

SECRETARY BLINKEN:  Well, good afternoon, everyone.  We’ve had an enduring partnership when it comes to humanitarian assistance with Ethiopia, going back decades.  And it’s enduring because we’ve had periods of famine, conflict, displacement, and yet throughout we have found ways, working with extraordinary partners like World Vision, like Catholic Relief Services, to make sure we were

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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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