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washington — North Korea’s broadening ties with Russia make a possible re-engagement with the U.S. less appealing for Pyongyang despite an apparent overture from Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, analysts said.

A delegation from the Russian prosecutor’s office wrapped up a three-day visit to Pyongyang and headed home Wednesday, North Korea’s state-run KCNA said.

Prosecutor General Igor Krasnov, the head of the delegation, and Kim Chol Won, director of North Korea’s Central Public Prosecutors Office, signed an agreement on Monday to cooperate on law enforcement countering foreign influence.

Krasnov said the two countries are “actively developing their comprehensive partnership” in “openly and successfully fighting off attempts to impose alien development models and values on us,” according to the Russian news agency Tass.

Krasnov said Moscow and Pyongyang seek to consolidate their efforts in countering “crimes in the area of information and communications technologies,” among other areas.

The ties between the two have been expanding rapidly in multiple areas since Russian President Vladimir Putin visited Pyongyang in June and signed a mutual defense treaty with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, promising closer military cooperation.

Russia-North Korea ties

“Kim Jong Un may see less need to engage with the U.S. than in 2018 because the regime is now getting economic and possibly military benefits from Russia,” said Bruce Klingner, senior research fellow for Northeast Asia at the Heritage Foundation.

North Korea said, “We do not care” that “any administration takes office in the U.S.” or that Trump has “lingering desire for the prospects of the DPRK-U.S. relations,” according to state-run KCNA on Tuesday.

The statement was released after Trump said last week in his presidential nomination acceptance speech at the Republic National Convention that he “got along very well with Kim” and thought Kim wanted him to win the presidential election in November.

During his term, Trump’s personal diplomacy with Kim resulted in their first 2018 summit in Singapore, a failed 2019 summit in Hanoi, and a last meeting at the inter-Korean border in 2019.

But that engagement came before Kim had Putin by his side, according to Andrew Yeo, the SK-Korea Foundation  chair in Korea studies at the Brookings Institution.  “There’s less incentive for Kim to engage with the U.S.” now that Russia and China are backing him, Yeo said.

“That said, Kim is an opportunist, so I wouldn’t rule out the possibility of Kim reaching out to Trump at some point if Trump is reelected,” Yeo added.

Little incentive for talks

In its KCNA statement, North Korea also said, “It is true that Trump, when he was president, tried to reflect the special personal relations between the heads of states in the relations between states, but he did not bring about any substantial positive change.”

Robert Manning, a senior fellow at the Stimson Center’s Reimagining U.S. Grand Strategy Program, said the KCNA statement “reflected that Kim felt humiliated when Trump walked out of the Hanoi summit rather than continuing negotiations, and the strategic choices Kim has made since 2019 — that he has abandoned long-standing North Korean interest in normalizing relations with the U.S.

“If Trump wins, he may be tempted to try to revive nuclear talks with Kim, but Pyongyang has taken denuclearization off the table. The political space for a more limited, credible U.S.-North Korea deal has shrunk immensely.”

Trump walked out of the summit in Hanoi, rejecting Kim’s offer to dismantle the Yongbyon nuclear facility in return for sanctions relief.

Nuclear talks between the U.S. and North Korea have remained stalled since 2019 despite the Biden administration’s call for Pyongyang to return to dialogue.

In the same KCNA statement that rebuffed Trump’s outreach, North Korea expressed its dissatisfaction with the deployment of U.S. FA-18 Super Hornets to the Suwon Air Force Base for joint drills with South Korea that began Tuesday and will run through this summer.

Washington’s continued call for dialogue in this context is a “sinister attempt” and “an extension of confrontation,” North Korea said.

The Heritage Foundation’s Klingner said North Korea’s message “hinted that the price for it reengaging with Washington would be the cancellation of bilateral military exercises, rotational deployment of U.S. strategic assets and reduction of the U.S. extended deterrence guarantee.

“If Washington capitulated to those demands, Pyongyang could seek to further divide the U.S.-ROK alliance and degrade deterrence by proposing a peace declaration or treaty which could then lead to advocacy for a premature decrease of U.S. troops in South Korea.”
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State Department  — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will depart for Asia on Thursday to reaffirm ties with strategic allies, following his attendance at a highly anticipated White House meeting between President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

“The secretary will now depart tomorrow for Asia, instead of tonight, as we had originally planned, so he can attend the meeting between the president and Prime Minister Netanyahu tomorrow here in Washington,” State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters during Wednesday’s briefing.  

Washington said it is committed to allies and partners in the Indo-Pacific region, despite the Middle East crisis.  

“This is the secretary’s 18th trip to the region,” Miller added. “He will still travel to Laos, to Vietnam, to Japan, to Singapore, to the Philippines and to Mongolia.”  

Blinken will hold talks with senior officials from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Vientiane, Laos, before traveling to Hanoi, Vietnam. Although a schedule change will prevent him from attending the funeral of General Secretary Nguyen Phú Trong, the head of Vietnam’s ruling Communist Party, he will still visit Vietnam to pay his respects and meet with senior officials.  

In Tokyo and Manila, Blinken will join Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin for 2+2 security talks with their counterparts.   

Blinken will also travel to Singapore and Mongolia to hold talks with senior officials there.

 
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Валентин Рубчинський став автором першого в історії України голу на Олімпійських іграх
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Суд стягнув у дохід держави 100% акцій Статутного капіталу Приватного акціонерного товариства «Вінницяпобутхім»
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In the Pacific Northwest, there is a marching group that has thrilled parade audiences for more than 70 years. The Seattle Chinese Community Girls Drill Team has brought a sense of community and identity for generations of Chinese American girls. VOA’s Natasha Mozgovaya reports.
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Paris — Tennis star Coco Gauff will join LeBron James as a flag bearer for the U.S. Olympic team at Friday’s opening ceremony.

Gauff, the reigning U.S. Open champion, is set to make her Olympic debut at the Paris Games and will be the first tennis athlete to carry the U.S. flag. She and James were chosen by Team USA athletes.

“I mean, for me, the Olympics is a top priority. I would say equal to the Grand Slams. I wouldn’t put it above or below, just because I’ve never played before. This is my first time,” Gauff said earlier this year. “Obviously, I always want to do well, try to get a medal.”

Gauff and James, the 39-year-old leading scorer in NBA history, both compete in sports that are outside the traditional Olympic world and get attention year-round, not just every four years.

The 20-year-old Gauff made the American team for the Tokyo Games three years ago as a teenager but had to sit out those Olympics because she tested positive for COVID-19 right before she was supposed to fly to Japan.

Now Gauff, who is based in Florida, is a Grand Slam title winner in singles and doubles. She won her first major championship in New York in September, defeating Aryna Sabalenka in the singles final of the U.S. Open, then added her first Grand Slam doubles trophy at the French Open this June alongside Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic.

The same clay courts at Roland Garros used for the French Open will be where matches are going to be held for the Paris Olympics. The draw to set the brackets is Thursday, and play begins on Saturday.

Gauff is seeded No. 2 in singles, matching her current WTA ranking behind No. 1 Iga Swiatek of Poland, and will be among the medal favorites.

She and her usual doubles partner, Jessica Pegula, are seeded No. 1 in women’s doubles. It’s possible Gauff could also be entered in mixed doubles, but those pairings have not been announced yet.

“I’m not putting too much pressure on it, because I really want to fully indulge in the experience,” Gauff said about her Olympics debut. “Hopefully I can have the experience multiple times in my lifetime, (but) I’ll treat it as a once-in-a-lifetime experience.”
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Paris — What was expected to be a simple coronation of Salt Lake City as the 2034 Winter Olympic host turned into complicated Olympic politics Wednesday, as the IOC pushed Utah officials to end an FBI investigation into a suspected doping coverup.

The International Olympic Committee is angry about an ongoing U.S. federal investigation of suspected doping by Chinese swimmers who were allowed to compete at the Tokyo Games despite positive drug tests. The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) accepted Chinese explanations for the tests, and U.S. officials are now investigating that decision under an anti-conspiracy law passed after the Russian doping scandal at the Sochi Winter Games.

President Thomas Bach wants to make sure WADA is the sole authority on Olympic doping cases, especially with the Sumer Olympics headed to Los Angeles in 2028. The IOC added a clause to Salt Lake’s host contract, demanding that local organizers – including Utah Gov. Spencer Cox – push to shut down the federal investigation or risk losing the Olympics.

Cox and others promised to lobby the U.S. president and Congress.

“We agree that if the United States does not support or violates the World Anti-Doping Federation’s rules, that they can withdraw the Games from from us and from the United States, ” Cox said after the announcement. “That was the only way that that we could we could guarantee that we would get the Games.”

Even in the world Olympic diplomacy, it was a stunning power move to force government officials to publicly agree to do the IOC’s lobbying. 

After getting the Utah contingent’s agreement on the clause, the IOC formally awarded the 2034 Winter Games to Salt Lake in an 83-6 vote. 

The capital city of Utah was the only candidate after the IOC gave Salt Lake City exclusive negotiating rights last year in a fast-tracked process.

The campaign team presenting the bid on stage to IOC members included Cox, Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall and Alpine ski great Lindsey Vonn. Back home, a 3 a.m. public watch party gathered to see the broadcast from Paris.

The clause inserted into the contract requires Utah officials to to work with current and future U.S. presidents and members of Congress “to alleviate your concerns” about the federal investigation into doping.

The IOC clause allows the Olympic body to terminate Salt Lake City’s deal if the authority of WADA was undermined on U.S. territory. 

WADA’s role is under scrutiny for accepting a Chinese investigation that declared all 23 swimmers were contaminated by traces of a banned heart medication in a hotel kitchen. Three Chinese gold medals in the Tokyo Olympic pool were won by swimmers implicated in the case. Some are also competing in Paris next week.

The case an be investigated in the U.S. under federal legislation named for a whistleblower of Russian state doping at the 2014 Sochi Winter Games.

The IOC and WADA lobbied against passing the law, known as the Rodchenkov Act, which gives U.S. federal agencies wide jurisdiction of doping enforcement worldwide ahead of Los Angeles hosting the 2028 Summer Games.

“We will work with our members of Congress,” Gov. Cox told Bach and IOC voters ahead of the 2034 vote, “we will use all the levers of power open to us to resolve these concerns.”

Salt Lake City first hosted the Winter Games in 2002. That bid was hit with a bribery scandal, which led to anti-corruption reforms at the IOC.

Future U.S. Sen. Mitt Romney was brought in to clean up the Games, which went off well despite tightened security. The Games were the biggest international sports event hosted by the U.S. following the Sept. 11 attacks five months earlier.

“I am sorry for you, and for us, that this issue arose now,” Bach said, addressing the Salt Lake City delegation ahead of the vote.

It is an Olympic tradition for lawmakers and even heads of state to come to an IOC meeting and plead their case to be anointed as an host city.

Russian President Vladimir Putin did it in 2007, speaking in English to secure the 2014 Winter Games for Sochi. British Prime Minister Tony Blair made a key intervention in 2005 to help win the 2012 Olympics for London. U.S. President Barack Obama’s visit to Copenhagen in 2009 did not help in Chicago’s losing cause for the 2016 Summer Games that went to Rio de Janeiro.

For its second turn, Salt Lake City will get almost 10 full years to prepare — the longest lead-in for a modern Winter Games — amid longer-term concerns about climate change affecting snow sports and reducing the pool of potential hosts.

Salt Lake City opted to target 2034 and so avoided potential commercial and logistical clashes with the 2028 Summer Games being hosted by Los Angeles.

It will be the fifth Winter Games in the U.S. Before Salt Lake City in 2002, there was Lake Placid in 1980 and 1932, and Squaw Valley — now known as Olympic Valley — in 1960.

In a separate decision earlier in Paris, the 2030 Winter Games was awarded — with conditions — to France for a regional project split between ski resorts in the Alps and the French Riviera city Nice.

That project needs official signoff from the national government being formed, and the Prime Minister yet to be confirmed, after recent elections called by President Emmanuel Macron. He helped present the 2030 bid Wednesday to IOC members. 
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Зросла частка тих, хто дотримується думки, що українці і росіяни ніколи не були братніми народами (з 16% до 44%)
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WASHINGTON — U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris heads to Indianapolis on Wednesday, marking one of her first public appearances since President Joe Biden dropped out of the 2024 presidential race and endorsed her as the Democratic Party’s nominee on Sunday.

Harris is scheduled to deliver a keynote speech at Zeta Phi Beta (ZPB) Sorority Inc.’s biennial convention in Indianapolis.

ZPB, founded in 1920 at Harris’ alma mater Howard University, is one of the nation’s largest historically Black sororities – social organizations with female-only memberships at colleges and universities whose purpose is to foster community, academic achievement and career development, among other things.

Earlier this month in Dallas, Texas, Harris spoke to more than 20,000 members and alumnae of her own sorority at Howard University, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc., at its national convention.

Sorority figures play key roles in the group Win With Black Women, which organized a Zoom call with 44,000 attendees just hours after Biden endorsed Harris. The group said it raised more than $1.5 million for her campaign in just a few hours.

A similar effort by Win With Black Men raised more than $1 million, adding to the $100 million raised by the Harris campaign in less than 48 hours. This is in addition to money raised by political action committees separate from the campaign. The largest one, the Future Forward PAC, reported $150 million in commitments in the first 24 hours.

Sororities and fraternities

There are nine historically Black sororities and fraternities, their male equivalent, known as the “Divine Nine.”

Sororities and fraternities are among the most important networks in the African American community, said Steve Phillips, founder of the political media organization Democracy in Color, and author of several books on demographic shifts in the American electorate.

“Members are passionate, energetic and engaged throughout their entire lives,” he told VOA, so these pre-existing and highly involved groups can swiftly emerge as formidable campaign resources.

“We saw some of this with Obama in 2007 and 2008, and I expect it to be another order of magnitude fundraising and volunteering with Harris,” he said.

Sororities are pathways to another key resource – Black female celebrities.

These groups are actively recruiting notable figures and celebrities as honorary members, said Samantha N. Sheppard, associate professor and chair of the Department of Performing and Media Arts at Cornell University.

With Hollywood big names including Kerry Washington, Viola Davis, Jennifer Lewis and others pledging support for Harris, the “groundswell of Black women celebrity activism” has already begun, she told VOA.

Harris’ run for the nation’s top job has energized African American voters, a key Democratic constituency whose enthusiasm waned when Biden was on top of the ticket. However, amid the rampant racist and sexist attacks on Harris online, they are also bracing themselves.

“It’s critical for Black women with platforms to work together to rise above the misogynoir that Harris will face,” Sheppard said.

Attacks are already being launched at Harris for traveling to Indianapolis and declining to preside over Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech to Congress, also happening Wednesday.

From Indianapolis, Harris heads to Houston, Texas, to speak in front of the American Federation of Teachers on Friday.
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MILWAUKEE — U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris assailed Donald Trump on Tuesday at her first campaign rally since replacing President Joe Biden as the Democratic presidential candidate.

In a 17-minute speech, Harris went after Trump’s vulnerabilities, comparing her background as a former prosecutor to his record as a convicted felon.

Harris ticked through a list of liberal priorities, saying that if elected she would act to expand abortion access, make it easier for workers to join unions, and address gun violence, drawing a sharp contrast with Trump, the Republican nominee for president in the November 5 election.

“Donald Trump wants to take our country backward,” she told a cheering crowd of several thousand at West Allis Central High School in a Milwaukee suburb in Wisconsin, a battleground state with a pivotal role in deciding the election outcome.

“Do we want to live in a country of freedom, compassion and rule of law, or a country of chaos, fear and hate?”

The raucous rally was a notable contrast to the smaller, more subdued events Biden held, underscoring Democrats’ hope that Harris, 59, can revive what had been a flagging campaign under Biden, 81. The audience danced and waved Harris signs, while chants of “Ka-ma-la!” broke out when she took the stage.

She emphasized her commitment to reproductive rights, an issue that has plagued Republicans since the U.S. Supreme Court — powered by three Trump-appointed justices — eliminated a nationwide right to abortion in 2022.

Trump and his allies have tried to tether Harris to some of Biden’s more unpopular policies, including his administration’s handling of the surge of migrants at the southern border with Mexico.

In a conference call with reporters on Tuesday, Trump expressed confidence in his ability to defeat Harris, noting that her previous presidential run in 2020 did not even survive until the first statewide nominating contest.

Trump offered to debate Harris multiple times. Trump and Biden had one more debate scheduled on September 10 after their encounter on June 27. Biden’s poor performance that night led to Democratic calls for him to step aside.

“I want to debate her, and she’ll be no different because they have the same policies,” Trump said.

Harris swiftly consolidated her party’s support after Biden abandoned his reelection campaign under pressure from members of his party who worried about his ability to beat 78-year-old Trump, or to serve another four-year term.

Harris has received pledges from enough delegates to win the nominations, the campaign said. But nothing is certain until next month’s Democratic National Convention, when the delegates will vote to determine the nominee.

Her campaign said it had raised $100 million since Sunday.

Most Democratic lawmakers have lined up behind her candidacy, including the party’s leaders in the Senate and House, Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries, who endorsed Harris on Tuesday at a joint press conference.

Harris’ rise dramatically reshapes an election in which many voters were unhappy with their options. As the first Black woman and Asian American to serve as vice president, she would make further history as the first woman elected U.S. president.

Wisconsin is among a trio of Rust Belt states, along with Michigan and Pennsylvania, that are critical to Democrats’ chances of defeating Trump.

Alyssa Wahlberg, 19, chair of the Whitewater College Democrats, said Harris had reenergized young voters, particularly women who want Harris to break the ultimate U.S. glass ceiling.

“I talked to my grandmom. We are both excited that she may live to see the first woman president,” said Wahlberg while attending Tuesday’s rally. “It’s taken too long.”
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washington — Protesters against the Gaza war staged a sit-in at a U.S. congressional office building on Tuesday, ahead of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to Congress. Capitol Police made multiple arrests.

Netanyahu arrived in Washington on Monday for a visit that includes meetings with President Joe Biden and a Wednesday speech before a joint session of Congress. Dozens of protesters rallied outside his hotel Monday evening, and on Tuesday afternoon, hundreds staged a flashmob-style protest in the Cannon Building, which houses offices of members of the U.Sl House of Representatives.

Organized by Jewish Voice for Peace, protesters — wearing red T-shirts that read “Not In Our Name” — took over the building’s rotunda by sitting on the floor, unfurling signs and chanting “Let Gaza Live!”

After about a half-hour of clapping and chanting, officers from the U.S. Capitol Police issued several warnings, then began arresting protesters — binding their hands with zip ties and leading them away one-by-one.

“I am the daughter of Holocaust survivors and I know what a Holocaust looks like,” said Jane Hirschmann, a native of Saugerties, New York, who drove down for the protest along with her two daughters — both of whom were arrested. “When we say ‘Never again,’ we mean never for anybody.”

Anger aimed at US president

The demonstrators focused much of their ire on the Biden administration, demanding the president immediately cease all arms shipments to Israel.

“We’re not focusing on Netanyahu. He’s just a symptom,” Hirschmann said. “But how can (Biden) be calling for a cease-fire when he’s sending them bombs and planes?”

As of 8 p.m. Tuesday, the Capitol Police said they did not have a final tally of the number of people arrested. But JVP said in a statement that 400 people, “including over a dozen rabbis,” had been arrested.

Mitchell Rivard, chief of staff for Representative Dan Kildee of Michigan, said in a statement that his office called for Capitol Police intervention after the demonstrators “became disruptive, violently beating on the office doors, shouting loudly, and attempting to force entry into the office.”

Kildee later told The Associated Press that he was confused why his office was targeted, saying he had voted against a massive supplemental military aid package to Israel earlier this year.

Netanyahu’s U.S. visit has touched off a wave of protest activity, with some demonstrations condemning Israel and others expressing support but pressuring Netanyahu to strike a cease-fire deal and bring home the hostages still being held by Hamas.

Families of some of the remaining hostages held a protest vigil Tuesday evening on the National Mall, demanding that Netanyahu come to terms with Hamas and bring home the approximately 120 Israeli hostages remaining in Gaza.

About 150 people wearing yellow shirts that read “Seal the Deal NOW!” chanted “Bring Them Home” and listened to testimonials from relatives and former hostages. The demonstrators applauded when Biden’s name was mentioned, but several criticized Netanyahu — known by his nickname “Bibi” — on the belief that he was dragging his feet or playing hardball on a proposed cease-fire deal that would return all of the hostages.

“I’m begging Bibi. There’s a deal on the table and you have to take it,” said Aviva Siegel, 63, who spent 51 days in captivity and whose husband, Keith, remains a hostage. “I want Bibi to look in my eyes and tell me one thing: that Keith is coming home.”

Anticipating protests, security boosted

Multiple protests are planned for Wednesday, when Netanyahu is slated to address Congress. In anticipation, police have boosted security around the Capitol building and closed multiple roads for most of the week.

Biden and Netanyahu are expected to meet Thursday, according to a U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity ahead of the White House announcement. Vice President Kamala Harris also will meet with Netanyahu separately that day.

Harris, as Senate president, would normally sit behind foreign leaders addressing Congress, but she’ll be away Wednesday on an Indianapolis trip scheduled before Biden withdrew his reelection bid and she became the likely Democratic presidential candidate over the weekend.

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump announced on Truth Social that he would meet with Netanyahu on Friday.
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WASHINGTON — The United States has invited the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces for U.S.-mediated cease-fire talks starting on August 14 in Switzerland, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Tuesday. 

The talks will include the African Union, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and the United Nations as observers, Blinken said in a statement. Saudi Arabia will be a co-host for the discussions, he added.  

“The scale of death, suffering, and destruction in Sudan is devastating. This senseless conflict must end,” Blinken said, calling on the Sudanese Armed Forces, or SAF, and Rapid Support Forces, or RSF, to attend the talks and approach them constructively. 

The war in Sudan, which erupted in April 2023, has forced almost 10 million people from their homes, sparked warnings of famine and waves of ethnically driven violence blamed largely on the RSF. 

Talks in Jeddah between the army and RSF that were sponsored by the United States and Saudi Arabia broke down at the end of last year. 

State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters on Tuesday that the goal of the talks in Switzerland was to build on work from Jeddah and try to move the talks to the next phase. 

“We just want to get the parties back to the table, and what we determined is that bringing the parties, the three host nations and the observers together is the best shot that we have right now at getting the nationwide cessation of violence,” Miller said.
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state department — U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration said it remains “intensely focused on” its foreign policy agenda in the final six months of his term, despite the challenges often faced by so-called lame-duck leaders.

On Tuesday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters at the State Department that the United States will continue the work, “particularly trying to bring peace to the Middle East, ending the war in Gaza,” dealing effectively with the ongoing aggression by Russia against Ukraine, and maintaining engagement in the Indo-Pacific region.

This week, Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin head to Asia to reassure allies and partners in the Indo-Pacific of the U.S. commitment, as the U.S. presidential election in November casts uncertainty over Washington’s foreign policy.

On Sunday, Biden announced he will not run for reelection and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris as his successor. Earlier this month, the Republican nominee, former President Donald Trump, survived an assassination attempt.

By late Monday, most Democratic delegates pledged their support for Harris, making her the likely nominee.

Blinken endorsed Harris on Tuesday.

“What I’ve observed is someone who asks, time and again, the penetrating questions, who cuts to the chase and is intensely focused on the interests of the American people and making sure that our foreign policy is doing everything it can to advance those interests,” he said.

2+2 security talks

Blinken and Austin will hold the so-called 2+2 security talks with U.S. allies Japan and the Philippines.

The U.S.-Japan Foreign and Defense Ministerial Dialogues will discuss “extended deterrence” for the first time amid growing, unprecedented threats in the region, according to U.S. officials. The term refers to the U.S. commitment to use its nuclear and conventional forces to deter attacks on its allies.

The first U.S.-Philippines 2+2 meeting to be held in Manila follows a crucial deal reached between China and the Philippines on Sunday, amid recent collisions near the waters around Second Thomas Shoal, known as Rén’ài Jiao in China.

The agreement aims to establish a mutually acceptable arrangement at the shoal without conceding either side’s territorial claims.

“As the Philippines’ ally, we do support the diplomacy that they’ve chosen to conduct. We welcome the announcement of this outcome,” Daniel Kritenbrink told VOA during a phone briefing on Monday. Kritenbrink is the assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs.

After returning to the United States, the top U.S. diplomat and the defense chief will host their Australian counterparts in Annapolis, Maryland, for the 2024 Australia-U.S. Ministerial Consultations, or AUSMIN, on August 6, according to the Pentagon.

Vietnam

Blinken’s 10-day trip to Asia will start in Hanoi, where he will attend the funeral of General Secretary Nguyễn Phú Trọng, head of Vietnam’s ruling Communist Party, who died last Friday. In 2023, the U.S. and Vietnam elevated their bilateral ties to a comprehensive strategic partnership.

The United States, China, and Russia are among the countries that maintain top-tier relations with Vietnam.

ASEAN in Laos

Blinken will then attend meetings of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN, in Vientiane, Laos, where he will hold face-to-face talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.

State Department officials said they do not anticipate Blinken meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov or North Korean officials on the sidelines of ASEAN-related regional talks.

Japan

In Tokyo, in addition to the 2+2 security talks, Blinken will join his Australian, Indian and Japanese counterparts for a Quad foreign ministers’ meeting to reaffirm their collective commitment to regional stability. The Quad is a security dialogue involving the four countries.

The United States and Japan will demonstrate responsibly how they will ensure not just the defense of Japan but also their contribution to regional security, according to Kritenbrink.

In April, Tokyo and Washington announced a series of initiatives to strengthen their military ties, which the Biden administration described as the most significant upgrade since the U.S.-Japan alliance began in 1951.

The Philippines

In Manila, Blinken and Austin will meet with Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

They will discuss ways to deepen coordination on shared challenges, including in the South China Sea, and advance our bilateral economic agenda, according to the State Department.

Singapore

In Singapore, Blinken will meet with Prime Minister Lawrence Wong and the city-state’s new leadership to discuss the U.S.-Singapore strategic partnership. U.S. officials said the focus on critical and emerging technologies highlights the partnership’s role in promoting a free, open, connected, and resilient Indo-Pacific region.

Mongolia

Tuesday, Blinken held talks with Mongolian Foreign Minister Battsetseg Batmunkh at the State Department.

The inaugural U.S.-Mongolia Comprehensive Strategic Dialogue highlighted the growing ties between the two countries, as evidenced by ongoing initiatives to strengthen people-to-people connections through professional and educational exchanges, English-language programs and the establishment of direct flights.
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Для того, щоб отримати позначку потрібно встановити останню версію застосунку
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