State Department Recap: September 7-14, 2022
A look at what's been on top US diplomats' schedules this week
state department — Here's a look at what U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and other top diplomats have been doing this week: The United States disclosed some findings by its intelligence community regarding Russia’s covert financing of foreign political parties and candidates. A senior administration official said Russia has covertly provided more than $300 million to political parties and candidates in dozens of countries since 2014. The State Department has issued a cable to 110 countries sharing the findings and will review steps countries can take to counter Russia's efforts. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Kyiv on September 8 and announced for Ukraine and its 18 neighbors that are threatened by Russian aggression. Blinken conferred with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy about the war against Russia, now in its seventh month. This week, Blinken said the continuing U.S. support for Ukraine has helped its counteroffensive against Russia. “We’ve seen significant progress by the Ukrainians,” said Blinken during a press conference in Mexico City on Monday. The top U.S. diplomat also said Ukraine’s counteroffensive actions recently initiated in southern Ukraine and in the northeast around Kharkiv have been “very methodically planned out.” The United States conveyed deep concerns over the military actions along the Armenia-Azerbaijan border this week. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev to “cease hostilities,” saying the U.S. would push for an immediate halt to fighting and a peace settlement between the two countries. Philip Reeker, the State Department’s senior adviser for Caucasus negotiations, has been in the region to facilitate a comprehensive peaceful settlement between the two long-time adversaries. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador on Monday to repair relations between the two neighboring countries that have frayed over immigration and other issues. The State Department said Blinken and Lopez Obrador also discussed strengthening energy security and joint efforts to tackle the climate crisis through investments in electric vehicles, solar technologies and semiconductors. The United States said Wednesday that it was setting up a fund in Switzerland to manage $3.5 billion of Afghan reserves to be used to help stabilize Afghanistan’s economy. A board of trustees will manage the Afghan Fund. The State Department said the Taliban are not a part of the Afghan Fund. When asked when the funds would be dispersed to Afghan people, spokesperson Ned Price said "as soon as possible."