The following is attributable to Principal Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel: Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken spoke today with Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Sheikh Salem Al Sabah to discuss shared regional and global priorities.  Secretary Blinken reaffirmed the strategic nature of the U.S.-Kuwait partnership and highlighted the importance of deepening bilateral cooperation on regional issues.  Secretary […]

Following the first Summit for Democracy in December 2021, the United States engaged in a series of efforts to expand support for human rights defenders (HRDs) worldwide.  For example, the Department of State issued and implemented guidelines that enabled U.S. diplomatic missions to support civil society and HRDs, engaged partners across the diplomatic community to […]

Hello, everyone. I’m glad to join the U.S.-Mexico Synthetic Drug Conference. To our Ambassador to Mexico, Ken Salazar, and our Assistant Secretary Todd Robinson: Thank you for your commitment to making people safer and healthier on both sides of the border. And to our partners in the Mexican government, particularly Foreign Secretary Ebrard: Thank you […]

The below is attributable to Principal Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel: Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman met with Latvian Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics today in Washington, D.C.  Deputy Secretary Sherman and Foreign Minister Rinkevics discussed the upcoming NATO Summit in Vilnius and NATO’s continuing work to strengthen Eastern Flank defense, counter Russian disinformation, and diplomatically […]

In the run-up to the Summit for Democracy, the U.S. government issued a Call to Advance Democracy.  The call focused on four areas aligned with the Presidential Initiative on Democratic Renewal:  advancing technology for democracy; fighting corruption; protecting civic space and human rights defenders; and advancing labor rights. We are pleased to share a variety of commitments that private […]

Today, President Biden and the leaders of Costa Rica, the Netherlands, the Republic of Korea, and the Republic of Zambia opened the second Summit for Democracy, which gathered leaders from around the world to spur further action to strengthen democratic resilience, demonstrate how democracies are delivering for citizens, and highlight how democracies are best equipped […]

The Department of State is committed to facilitating legitimate travel to the United States for both immigrant and nonimmigrant travelers. The Department of State published a Final Rule regarding increases to certain nonimmigrant visa application (NIV) processing fees and the Border Crossing Card (BCC) for Mexican citizens age 15 and over. These increases were published […]

The following is attributable to Principal Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel: Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken met yesterday with Paraguayan Foreign Minister Julio Arriola.  Secretary Blinken noted that Paraguay is a strategic partner and friend in the region.  The Secretary and Foreign Minister Arriola emphasized the importance of strong U.S.-Paraguay bilateral ties, including our shared commitment to […]

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s family members and associates rely on the illicit drug trade to fund his regime’s violent oppression and abuse of the Syrian people.  Today, the United States is taking action, in coordination with the United Kingdom, by designating six of these individuals, and two entities owned by one of those individuals, for […]

On March 27-28, the United States, as the 2023 chair of the Freedom Online Coalition (FOC), convened the Coalition’s 36 member States, Observers, and Advisory Network of external stakeholders for a Strategy and Coordination Meeting in Washington, D.C.  The FOC is a coalition of governments dedicated to advancing Internet freedom globally. Day 1 of the […]