SECRETARY BLINKEN: Well, good morning, everyone. It’s a pleasure to be able to receive my colleague
and my friend, the foreign minister of Senegal. Welcome, Aïssata, to the State Department.
I had a wonderful visit where we spent a lot of time together in Senegal. We’ve had many
conversations since then.
And our two countries are strong partners on so many issues based on many shared values.
I’m looking forward to continuing the discussions that we started in Dakar last November and things
that we’ve been working on since, including at the United Nations. I think we’ll talk about
the ways that we can address the growing food security crisis
that has been exacerbated by Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. This is a
very important topic for both of us and for many countries around the world, and we’ve
been working concretely on how to address it both in the near term and the longer term.
Senegal, of course, has been a leader on trying to end the acute phase of COVID-19
and more broadly on global health security. We’ll be talking about that. And of course,
we’re partners on security cooperation, on economic prosperity,
on dealing with climate change and on resolving regional issues.
So there is, as always, a broad agenda, but I’m just particularly pleased to be able to
reciprocate for the incredibly warm hospitality but also the incredibly productive visit
that I had with you and with President Macky Sall.