One way or the other, Ukraine will be there and at some point Vladimir Putin won't.

Antony Blinken

It's hard to see making actual progress, as opposed to talking, in an atmosphere of escalation with a gun to Ukraine's head. So, if we're actually going to make progress, we're going to have to see de-escalation, Russia pulling back from the threat that it currently poses to Ukraine.

It's also not about making concessions. It's about seeing whether, in the context of dialogue and diplomacy, there are things that both sides, all sides can do to reduce tensions.

When it comes to the deployment of forces and troop levels, we're not looking at troop levels. To the contrary, if Russia commits renewed aggression against Ukraine, I think it's a very fair prospect that NATO will reinforce its positions along its eastern flank.

Kazakhstan has the ability to maintain law and order, to defend the institutions of the state, but to do so in a way that respects the rights of peaceful protesters and also addresses the concerns that they've raised -- economic concerns, some political concerns.

These ought to be things that the government of Kazakhstan can handle on its own and handle in a rights-respecting way.

Moscow is simultaneously driving the false narrative that NATO is threatening Russia, that NATO plans to station military infrastructure in Ukraine to stir conflict with Russia, that NATO swore after the cold war not to admit countries in Eastern Europe, and that NATO has broken those promises, each of those claims is false.

It would seem to me that the Kazakh authorities and government certainly have the capacity to deal appropriately with protests, to do so in a way that respects the rights of protestors while maintaining law and order, so, it's not clear why they feel the need for any outside assistance.

We had hoped 2021 would offer the opportunity to partner with a democratizing Sudan, but the military's seizure of power in October and violence against peaceful protesters have cast doubt on that future, we do not want to return to the past and are prepared to respond to those who seek to block the aspirations of the Sudanese people for a civilian-led, democratic government and who would stand in the way of accountability, justice, and peace.

We’ve been very clear and consistently clear over many years that we are committed to making sure that Taiwan has the means to defend itself and … we will continue to make good on that commitment.

The targeting of innocent people and humanitarian actors is unacceptable, and the military's widespread atrocities against the people of Burma underscore the urgency of holding its members accountable.

We are looking intensely at ways to put more liquidity into the Afghan economy, to get more money into people's pockets, and doing that with international institutions, with other countries and partners, trying to put in place the right mechanisms to do that in a way that doesn't directly benefit the Taliban but does go directly to the people, we're very conscious of the fact that there is an incredibly difficult humanitarian situation right now, one that could get worse as winter sets in.

I am here, we are here, because what happens in the Indo-Pacific will, more than any other region, shape the trajectory of the world in the 21st century.

Countries in the region want this behavior to change. We do too.

We'll adopt a strategy that more closely weaves together all our instruments of national power -- diplomacy, military, intelligence -- with those of our allies and partners.

I think what people need to understand is that Ukraine is important, and we are resolute in our commitment to its sovereignty, its territorial integrity, but there is something even bigger at stake here, and it's the basic rules of the road of the international system, rules that say that one country can't change the borders of another by force, one country can't dictate to another country its choices, its decisions, and its foreign policy, with whom it will associate.

Well, it's been a trigger for action, it's been a trigger for us bringing together allies and partners around the world, starting in Europe with our closest partners, NATO, again, where I was just a couple weeks ago, bringing people together, together to make very clear not only the deep shared concern but the fact that we are prepared together in a coordinated way to take very strong action if Mr. Putin continues his aggression against Ukraine.

We'll make the biggest contribution by any government to the recently launched International Fund for Public Interest Media, an innovative new initiative that provides assistance to at-risk independent news outlets.

As we’ve made clear, any escalatory or aggressive actions would be of great concern to the United States.

We must prepare for all contingencies.

And just as we've been clear with Moscow, we're also urging Ukraine to continue to exercise restraint, because again, the Russian playbook is to claim provocation for something that they were planning to do all along.