Day: February 4, 2023

I am taking action today to impose additional visa restrictions on certain current or former Taliban members, members of non-state security groups, and other individuals believed to be responsible for, or complicit in, repressing women and girls in Afghanistan through restrictive policies and violence, including the Taliban’s decision to ban women from universities and from working...

Counselor of the State Department Derek Chollet and U.S. Special Representative to the Western Balkans Gabriel Escobar met with Members of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina Zeljka Cvijanovic, Zeljko Komsic, and Denis Becirovic today in Washington, D.C. Counselor Chollet welcomed the first joint visit of the Presidency to the United States since 2005 as...

The United States strongly opposes the Burma military regime’s decision to extend the state of emergency, prolonging the military’s illegitimate rule and the suffering it inflicts upon the country. As we enter the third year since the regime’s unjust and destabilizing coup, we restate our commitment to support the people of Burma and the realization...

The below is attributable to Spokesperson Ned Price: Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman met with Rwandan Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Vincent Biruta today. They discussed regional security issues of mutual interest, including how to arrest the deteriorating situation in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and how to promote stability...

Tuesday, February 7th, 2023, 9 PM ET Where can I watch the State of the Union livestream? To watch the State of the Union speech live, visit WH.gov/sotu. Tune into the official social media streams of the White House for President Biden’s State of the Union address. YouTube: President Biden’s Second State of the Union (Español)Twitter: @WhiteHouse or @POTUSFacebook: White House...

The Department of State’s Bureau of Energy Resources Assistant Secretary Geoffrey R. Pyatt will travel to Houston, Texas, February 1-2.  Reflecting the Department’s priority of support for American business, Assistant Secretary Pyatt will meet with leaders of the Houston based energy industry on the complementary agendas of energy security and energy transition.  The Assistant Secretary will also participate in...

Hagerstown Regional AirportHagerstown, Maryland 3:15 P.M. EST THE PRESIDENT:  On Wednesday, when I was briefed on the balloon, I ordered the Pentagon to shoot it down, on Wednesday, as soon as possible.  They decided — without doing damage to anyone on — on the ground.  They decided that the best time to do that was as...

Two years ago, Burma’s military regime usurped power from a democratically elected government – blatantly rejecting the will of Burma’s people, setting the country on a disastrous path that has killed and displaced thousands, reversing the hard-fought democratic progress achieved over the last decade. Since the military’s coup on February 1, 2021, the political, economic,...

The below is attributable to Spokesperson Ned Price: Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken spoke today with Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita on shared priorities in the bilateral relationship and efforts to advance regional stability. Secretary Blinken also discussed his recent travel and engagements with Egyptian, Israeli, and Palestinian leaders, during which he called for deescalation...

A joint statement by the High Representative on behalf of the European Union, and the Foreign Ministers of Albania, Armenia, Australia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Canada, the Federated States of Micronesia, Georgia, Ghana, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Montenegro, New Zealand, North Macedonia, Norway, the Republic of Korea, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the Republic of Palau, Serbia, Switzerland,...