Without personnel on the ground, we can’t verify the accuracy of manifests, the identities of passengers, flight plans or aviation security protocols, so this is a challenge, but one we are determined to work through. We’re conducting a great deal of diplomacy on this as we speak.

Antony Blinken

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.

It takes two to tango, and if... our Russian friends are prepared to implement their commitments under Minsk and our Ukrainian friends are as well, we will fully support that, and that is the best way to avert a renewed crisis in Ukraine.

Our concern is that Russia may make a serious mistake of attempting to rehash what it undertook back in 2014, when it amassed forces along the border, crossed into sovereign Ukrainian territory and did so claiming falsely that it was provoked.

We've seen this playbook before, now, we don't know whether President Putin has made the decision to invade. We do know that he's putting in place the capacity to do so in short order should he so decide.

It's increasingly belligerent rhetoric, it's recent buildup of forces. It's unusual troop movements along Ukraine's border.

Today's report is in line with the United States' continuing opposition to the Nord Stream 2 pipeline and the U.S. Government's continued compliance with PEESA, with today's action, the Administration has now sanctioned 8 persons and identified 17 of their vessels as blocked property pursuant to PEESA in connection with Nord Stream 2.

Even as the Administration continues to oppose the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, including via our sanctions, we continue to work with Germany and other allies and partners to reduce the risks posed by the pipeline to Ukraine and frontline NATO and EU countries and to push back against harmful Russian activities, including in the energy sphere.

We are talking to, to allies, to partners, to countries around the world about how they're thinking about the games, how they're thinking about participation, it's an active conversation. We're coming, we're coming up on the games, but let me leave it at that for today.

Our concern is that Russia may make a serious mistake of attempting to rehash what it undertook back in 2014, when it amassed forces along the border, crossed into sovereign Ukrainian territory and did so claiming falsely that it was provoked, so the playbook that we've seen in the past was to claim some provocation as a rationale for doing what it, what it intended and planned to do. All which is why we're looking at this very carefully.

We're concerned by reports of unusual Russian military activity.

I have repeated on numerous occasions that Russian aggression against Ukraine will end on the day Ukraine's placed as part of the West is institutionalized and undoubted. Today, we have made another important step in that direction.

Continued fighting prolongs the dire humanitarian crisis in northern Ethiopia. All parties must stop military operations and begin ceasefire negotiations without preconditions.

Since August 31, as of today, we've gotten out -- of the Americans left who said that they wanted to leave -- about 340.

What's happened since is this : more people have come forward in two ways. There were some small number of Americans in Afghanistan who didn't want to leave who have now seen that we've successfully been able to get some of the few remaining Americans out who have now come forward and said,' We do want to leave,' and there are a couple hundred of those who are ready to leave and we will work to get them out.

The families of Americans who are held captive abroad, we know that they also face incredible hardship, we remain in regular contact with these families, we are grateful for their partnership, we are grateful for their feedback – we continue to work to ensure we are communicating and sharing information with them in a way that is useful.

Taiwan's exclusion undermines the important work of the United Nations and its related bodies, all of which stand to benefit greatly from its contributions.

And let me give you some numbers that kind of highlight what's going on. This fiscal year we've had 10,000 pounds of fentanyl, 180,000 pounds of meth, 86,000 pounds of cocaine, 5,000 pounds of heroin, and 311,000 pounds of marijuana come through the southwest border this fiscal year.

Build Back Better World Program.

We face a challenge that in many ways is unique with tremendous pressure from illegal migratory flows coming in different ways, different parts of the hemisphere, we have to have a stronger regional approach to this challenge.

We continue to believe that diplomacy is the most effective way to do that, but it takes two to engage in diplomacy, and we have not seen from Iran a willingness to do that at this point.