F.P Report
WASHINGTON: On January 28th, Antony J. Blinken begins to work as US Secretary of State. While briefing the media, Blinken stated that “that’s an essential part of the day, and we’re bringing it back”. He also mentioned that “President Biden has said that he wants truth and transparency back in the White House briefing room”.
During the briefing, Secretary of State answered regarding previous administration, several policies rolling out, and either incumbent government will review those decisions of Trump Administration, Blinken responded by saying that Biden administration is reviewing a number of steps that were taken late in the last administration.
“We want to make sure we understand in each case the basis for the decisions that were made”, he said.
While commenting on the Houthis, Secretary of State added that, the Houthis committed an act of significant aggression in taking over Sana’a some years ago, moving through the country, committing acts of aggression against our partner, Saudi Arabia, committing human rights abuses and other atrocities”.
He also mentioned that, “Houthis created an environment in which we’ve seen extremist groups fill some of the vacuums that were created. But at the same time, we’ve seen a campaign led by Saudi Arabia that has also contributed to what is by many estimates the worst humanitarian crisis in the world today”.
Secretary of State mentioned that “we can to get humanitarian assistance to the people of Yemen who are in desperate need”.
He further added that, “the Houthis control territory that I believe contains about 80 percent of Yemen’s population, and so we want to make sure that any of these steps, including the designation, don’t make what is already an incredibly difficult task even more difficult – that is, the provision of humanitarian aid to the people of Yemen.”
In addition to this, Secretary of State also addressed the question over extension of New START treaty and the redlines under which the United States will consider sanctioning Russia if there is any harm that comes to Navalny, Blinken added that, U.S had expressed its deep concern for the treatment of Mr. Navalny specifically and more generally with the human rights situation in Russia”.
Secretary of State, Blinken added that, President Biden has said to review all of these actions that are of deep concern to us, whether it is the treatment of Mr. Navalny, and particularly the apparent use of a chemical weapon in an attempt to assassinate him.
While mentioning the SolarWinds he added that those reports are also being reviewed, he also mentioned that this administration is also looking very urgently as well at SolarWinds and its various implications, along with this the reports of bounties placed by Russia on American forces in Afghanistan.
Moving forward, Secretary of State Blinken also addressed the questions posed by media regarding the Abraham Accords.
Secretary of State commented that Biden administration supports Abraham Accords, he added that “we think that Israel normalizing relations with its neighbors and other countries in the region is a very positive development, and so we applauded them, and we hope that there may be an opportunity to build on them in the months and years ahead”.
Moreover, Secretary of State also commented on retaining Ambassador Khalilzad as U.S. envoy, he said that “with regard to Afghanistan, one of the things that we need to understand is exactly what is in the agreements that were reached between the United States and the Taliban to make sure that we fully understand the commitments that the Taliban has made as well as any commitments that we’ve made.
Over retaining of Khalilzad, he said that “we have asked him to continue the vital work that he is performing”.
Furthermore Secretary of State also addressed the possibilities of cooperation between U.S. and China, he said that “relationship between the United States and China is arguably the most important relationship that we have in the world going forward”.
He remarked that “It’s going to shape a lot of the future that – that we all live, and increasingly that relationship has some adversarial aspects to it. It has competitive ones. And it also still has cooperative ones”.
While underscoring areas of cooperation, Blinken said that, “ in areas where it’s in our mutual interest to try to work together, including, manifestly, on climate, where it’s in the interest of China and the interest of the United States and the interest of countries around the world to make concrete progress in combating global warming”.
Secretary of State also expressed his views over Iran and U.S lifting sanctions from it that might open the doors of negotiations, he said that with regard to Iran, President Biden has been very clear in saying that if Iran comes back into full compliance with its obligations under the JCPOA, the United States would do the same thing and then we would use that as a platform to build, with our allies and partners, what we called a longer and stronger agreement and to deal with a number of other issues that are deeply problematic in the relationship with Iran”.
While talking about restoring American leadership, he said that “when it comes to virtually everything we’re doing and the President has said this many times when it comes to foreign policy, it is hard to have a sustainable foreign policy absent the informed consent of the American people”.
While concluding he said, “There are going to be disagreements. There are going to be places where we’re just in a different place. But I think we stand a better chance in producing the kind of policies that will stand the test of time if we’re working closely up front with Congress. And we’ll see where we get, but I’m determined that we do that”.
