Washington, DC, 28 April 2023 – Today United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres left Washington, DC, for New York, following two days of engagements in the city. His time in the US capital included meetings with H.E. Mr. Antony Blinken, US Secretary of State, and the leadership of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees and House Foreign Affairs Committee. His interactions on Capitol Hill complemented the meetings he held in December 2022 with the leadership of the Senate Foreign Relations and Appropriations Committees.
On 26 April, his day of arrival, the Secretary-General first met jointly with the Senate Appropriations Committee Chair (and Senate President pro tempore) Patty Murray (D-Washington), and the Committee’s Vice Chair, Senator Susan Collins (R-Maine).
He also held separate meetings with: Representative Michael McCaul (R-Texas), Chairman, House Foreign Affairs Committee; Representative Gregory Meeks (D-New York), Ranking Member, House Foreign Affairs Committee; Representative Rosa DeLauro (D-Connecticut), Ranking Member, House Appropriations Committee; and Representative Mario Diaz-Balart (R-Florida), Chairman, State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Subcommittee.
On his second day in Washington, 27 April, the Secretary-General met with Secretary Blinken where they discussed the importance of multilateral efforts to address current security challenges, such as the conflict in Sudan and the critical importance for an immediate, fully respected cease-fire; the urgent need to alleviate the plight of affected civilians; international engagement in Afghanistan, notably to support the rights of women and girls; and other topics of mutual interest, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The Secretary-General underlined the importance of reforms of international multilateral institutions, notably the United Nations and the Bretton Woods institutions. He also raised a number of issues related to the Host Country Agreement.
Immediately prior to his meeting with Secretary Blinken, the Secretary-General told the press, “In this troubled world, cooperation between the United States and the United Nations is absolutely essential.” He added, “I wanted to particularly express my gratitude and appreciation for the cooperation we have had recently in Sudan. Both Secretary Blinken and myself were trying to broker ceasefires, successive ceasefires - in both cases with some success - but not as successful as we would like to have. And I want to express my gratitude for the support that the US security officers have given to the important operation of the relocation that we did - a convoy of 1,200 staff members of the 缅北禁地but also NGOs and different missions, from Khartoum to Port Sudan in the middle of a very difficult situation. And indeed the cooperation with the US and with the US security office was absolutely precious for us.”
After speaking with Secretary Blinken, the Secretary-General returned to The Hill and spoke with Representative Chris Smith (R- New Jersey), Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Global Health, Global Human Rights, and International Organizations.
The Secretary-General concluded his trip with a moving visit to the National Museum of African American History and Culture with his wife, Mrs. Catarina Marques de Almeida Vaz Pinto.
