Page 4 - Antony Blinken

Israeli tanks push deeper into Rafah despite allies warning against it

A US official who declined to be identified told Reuters that Israel promised not to make a major move in Rafah without advising Washington

Blinken lands in Ukraine to express solidarity amid fierce Russian attacks

The previously undisclosed trip aims to show US solidarity with Ukraine as it struggles to fend off heavy Russian bombardment on its northeastern border

US Secy of State Blinken criticises Israel's conduct in war in Gaza

Secretary of State Antony Blinken has delivered some of the Biden administration's strongest public criticism yet of Israel's conduct of the war in Gaza, saying Israeli tactics have meant a horrible loss of life of innocent civilians but failed to neutralise Hamas leaders and fighters and could drive a lasting insurgency. In a pair of TV interviews, Blinken underscored that the United States believes Israeli forces should get out of Gaza, but also is waiting to see credible plans from Israel for security and governance in the territory after the war. Hamas has reemerged in parts of Gaza, Blinken said, and that heavy action by Israeli forces in the southern city of Rafah risks leaving America's closest Mideast ally holding the bag on an enduring insurgency." He said the United States has worked with Arab countries and others for weeks on developing credible plans for security, for governance, for rebuilding' in Gaza, but we haven't seen that come from Israel. ... We need to see that,

Antony Blinken urges Israel, Hamas to move ahead with ceasefire deal

The current round of talks appears to be serious, but the sides remain far apart on one key issue - whether the war should end as part of an emerging deal

Antony Blinken presses Hamas to accept new proposal for Gaza cease-fire

The United States stepped up pressure Monday for a cease-fire deal in Gaza as the secretary of state said a new proposal had been put to Hamas, whose officials were in Cairo talking to Egyptian mediators. Israeli airstrikes killed 26 people in Gaza's southernmost town of Rafah, according to hospital records. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, ahead of a visit to Israel this week, urged Hamas to accept the latest proposal, calling it extraordinarily generous on Israel's part. The terms were not made public. But according to an Egyptian official and Israeli media, Israel has softened its position, lowering the number of hostages it demands that Hamas free during the initial six-week phase of the cease-fire in return for the release of hundreds of Palestinians from Israeli prisons. One question is whether that will be enough to overcome Hamas concerns over the cease-fire's second phase. Hamas has demanded assurances that an eventual release of all hostages will bring a complete end

Israel truce proposal 'extraordinarily generous', says Antony Blinken

A source briefed on the talks said Israel's proposal entailed a deal for the release of fewer than 40 of the roughly 130 hostages believed to be still held in Gaza in exchange for freeing Palestinians

US envoy Blinken to visit Mideast again. What can he achieve this time?

Secretary of State Antony Blinken is returning to the Middle East on his seventh diplomatic mission to the region since the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza began more than six months ago, the State Department said Saturday. Blinken is traveling to Saudi Arabia on Monday, just two days since arriving back in Washington after a trip to China. Blinken will attend a World Economic Forum conference and meet with Arab foreign ministers in Riyadh, the Saudi capital. An Israeli foreign ministry official says Blinken will visit Israel on Tuesday, a stop not mentioned in the State Department's announcement about Blinken's itinerary. His latest Mideast trip, on the heels of meetings in China with President Xi Jinping and other high-ranking officials, comes as the war grinds on, with more than 34,000 Palestinians killed, hundreds of thousands displaced and a steadily worsening humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza. In the surprise attack by Hamas against Israel on Oct. 7 that triggered the war, about 1,200

Xi Jinping meets Antony Blinken, seeks US-China partnership over rivalry

Xi Jinping noted some progress since his meeting with US President Joe Biden, but stressed on continued efforts and addressing outstanding concerns

US and China spar with warnings about misunderstandings and miscalculations

The United States and China butted heads over a number of contentious bilateral, regional and global issues as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met Friday with senior Chinese officials and warned of the dangers of misunderstandings and miscalculations. Blinken's discussions started with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and then Public Security Minister Wang Xiaohong, who said Blinken would also see President Xi Jinping a meeting that had been expected but not previously announced by either said. A State Department official confirmed that Blinken would meet the president before leaving the country late Friday. Talks between the two sides have increased in recent months, even as differences have grown. Blinken and Wang underscored the importance of keeping lines of communication open, but they also lamented that divisions were becoming more serious in nature. They each underscored the importance of keeping lines of communication open but they also lamented persistent and ...

Blinken to meet Chinese counterpart in Beijing, discuss complex issues

Taiwan and the disputed South China Sea remain flashpoints, while the US is eager to see more progress on the curbing of China's supply of the chemicals to used to make fentanyl

Blinken in Shanghai; begins contentious talks with Chinese officials

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken opened his first full day of meetings in China on Thursday by talking with local government officials in Shanghai. Blinken discussed local and regional issues with Chen Jining, the Chinese Communist Party Secretary of Shanghai. He also planned to speak to students and business leaders before heading to Beijing by train for what are expected to be contentious talks with national officials, including Foreign Minister Wang Yi. Blinken arrived in Shanghai on Wednesday shortly before President Joe Biden signed a $95 billion foreign aid package that has several elements likely to anger the Chinese, including $8 billion to counter China's growing aggressiveness toward Taiwan and in the South China Sea. It also seeks to force TikTok's China-based parent company to sell the social media platform. China has railed against U.S. assistance to Taiwan, the self-governing island that it regards as a renegade province, and immediately condemned the move as a ...

Blinken begins China visit as tensions rise over new US foreign aid bill

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has begun a critical trip to China armed with a strengthened diplomatic hand following Senate approval of a foreign aid package that will provide billions of dollars in assistance to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan as well as force TikTok's China-based parent company to sell the social media platform - all areas of contention between Washington and Beijing. Blinken arrived in Shanghai on Wednesday just hours after the Senate vote on the long-stalled legislation and shortly before President Joe Biden is expected to sign it into law to demonstrate U.S. resolve in defending its allies and partners. Passage of the bill will add further complications to an already complex relationship that has been strained by disagreements over numerous global and regional disputes. Still, the fact that Blinken is making the trip shortly after a conversation between Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping, a similar visit to China by Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and a .

Blinken's visit to China: Ukraine, Mideast tensions to be key discussions

Secretary of State Antony Blinken is starting three days of talks with senior Chinese officials in Shanghai and Beijing this week with US-China ties at a critical point over numerous global disputes. The mere fact that Blinken is making the trip shortly after a conversation between President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping, a similar visit to China by Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and a call between the US and Chinese defense chiefs might be seen by some as encouraging, but ties between Washington and Beijing are tense and the rifts are growing wider. From Russia and Ukraine to Israel, Iran and the broader Middle East as well as Indo-Pacific and trade issues, the US and China are on a series of collision courses that have sparked fears about military and strategic security as well as international economic stability. Blinken will raise clearly and candidly our concerns during the talks starting Wednesday, a senior State Department official said. Here's a look at some of

Iran-Israel conflict: Blinken calls Turkey, Egypt, Jordan, Saudi FMs

: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Sunday reached out over phone to the foreign ministers of Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Egypt, while Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin had calls with his Saudi and Israeli counterparts, amid signs of an escalating crisis in the Middle East following Iran's strikes on Israel. Iran fired more than 300 drones and missiles at Israel, which Tehran said was in response to the April 1 strike on its consulate in Syria. Almost all Iranian drones and missiles were shot down by Israeli, US and allied forces before they reached their targets. The diplomatic overdrive to fight the crisis came soon after US President Joe Biden had a conference call with G-7 leaders and had separate telephonic conversations with King Abdullah of Jordan and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel. In all the calls, the American leadership emphasised on the need to avoid further escalation in the region and reaffirmed America's ironclad commitment to the security of ...

Israeli assault on Gaza's Rafah not needed to defeat Hamas, says Blinken

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Thursday a major Israeli ground assault on the southern Gaza town of Rafah would be a mistake and unnecessary to defeating Hamas, underscoring the further souring of relations between the United States and Israel. Blinken, on his sixth urgent Mideast mission since the war began, spoke after huddling with top Arab diplomats in Cairo for discussions over efforts for a cease-fire and over ideas for Gaza's post-conflict future. He said an immediate, sustained ceasefire with the release of Israeli hostages held by Hamas was urgently needed and that gaps were narrowing in indirect negotiations that US, Egypt and Qatar have spent weeks mediating. Blinken heads to Israel on Friday to meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his war cabinet. The growing disagreements between Netanyahu and President Joe Biden over the prosecution of the war will likely overshadow the talks particularly over Netanyahu's determination to launch a ground assault on ..

Gaza's Shifa hospital a war zone as Antony Blinken meets Sisi in Cair

The main sticking point remains that Hamas says it will release hostages only as part of an agreement that would end the war, while Israel says it will discuss only a temporary pause

Blinken to highlight support for Philippines as it clashes with China

Secretary of State Antony Blinken will underscore Washington's ironclad commitment to its alliance with the Philippines on Tuesday, as clashes between Chinese and Filipino forces in the disputed South China Sea turn more hostile, the U.S. State Department said. Blinken, the latest high-level official to visit the U.S. treaty ally, met his Philippine counterpart, Enrique Manalo Tuesday, before planned meetings with Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and other top officials in Manila. Next month, President Joe Biden will host Marcos and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in a White House summit amid growing concerns over increasingly aggressive Chinese actions in the South China Sea and North Korea's nuclear program. The Chinese coast guard blocked and used water cannons against Philippine vessels in a confrontation two weeks ago that slightly injured a Filipino admiral and four of his sailors near the disputed Second Thomas Shoal. The March 5 faceoff in the high seas also

US pledges additional $100M to deploy multinational force for Haiti

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday announced an additional USD 100 million to finance the deployment of a multinational force mission to Haiti following a meeting with Caribbean leaders in Jamaica to halt the country's violent crisis. Blinken also announced another USD 33 million in humanitarian aid and the creation of a joint proposal agreed on by Caribbean leaders and Haitian stakeholders that would expedite the creation of a presidential college. He said the college would take concrete steps he did not identify to meet the needs of Haitian people and enable the pending deployment of the multinational force to be led by Kenya. The joint proposal has the backing of members of Caricom, a regional trade bloc that held Monday's urgent meeting. I think we can all agree: Haiti is on the brink of disaster, said Guyanese President Irfaan Ali. We must take quick and decisive action. He said that he is very confident that we have found commonality to support what he described

US govt restores Trump's policy on illegitimacy of Israeli settlements

The Biden administration on Friday restored a US legal finding dating back nearly 50 years that Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories are illegitimate under international law. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the US believes settlements are inconsistent with Israel's obligations, reversing a determination made by his predecessor, Mike Pompeo, in the Biden administration's latest shift away from the pro-Israel policies pursued by former President Donald Trump. Blinken's comments came in response to a reporter's question about an announcement that Israel would build more than 3,300 new homes in West Bank settlements as a riposte to a fatal Palestinian shooting attack. It wasn't clear why Blinken chose this moment, more than three years into his tenure, to reverse Pompeo's decision. But it came at a time of growing US-Israeli tensions over the war in Gaza, with the latest settlement announcement only adding to the strain. It also came as the United Nations'

EAM Jaishankar holds meetings with US, UK counterparts in Germany

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Friday discussed issues related to bilateral cooperation as well as those of key global and regional concern with prominent leaders, including US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and his British counterpart David Cameron here in Germany. The meetings took place on the sidelines of the prestigious Munich Security Conference, in its 60th edition, which is the world's leading forum for debate on international security. The Indian minister is to participate in a panel discussion on Growing the Pie: Seizing Shared Opportunities,' which is also to be addressed by German foreign minister Annalena Baerbock, and US Secretary of State Blinken on Saturday. Taking to social media platform X, Jaishankar said his meeting with Blinken focussed on key bilateral issues as well as the situation in West Asia, Ukraine and the Indo-Pacific. Great to meet my friend US @SecBlinken this afternoon on #MSC2024 sidelines. Our talk centered on the situation in West .