Secretary Antony J. Blinken And Dutch Foreign Minister Wopke Hoekstra Before Their Meeting

SECRETARY BLINKEN:  Hello.  Good afternoon, everyone.  It’s a great pleasure as always to meet with my friend and colleague, the Dutch foreign minister.  And we are taking this opportunity to follow up on the very good visit the prime minister made to Washington some weeks ago with President Biden; also, of course, to continue the important work that we’ve been doing together in close coordination in support of Ukraine against the Russian aggression; and as well to talk about and focus on the agenda that we have here at the G20, where our countries are working together to try to advance the issues that really matter to countries and people around the world. 

So Wopke, it’s good to see you.

FOREIGN MINISTER HOEKSTRA:  I can only – thank you very much, Mr. Secretary, dear Tony.  It is of the upmost importance that we continue to team up to make sure we support Ukraine, and make sure that in doing so we also (inaudible) the safety and security of Europe, and I think in fact it is a litmus test of our credibility across the globe.

A second important topic is, of course, the global stability, and particularly also here in the Indo-Pacific, which is a concern of many of our colleagues here.  And now third, how do we make sure we engage much more effectively and (inaudible) much more longevity with our friends in the global south, where actually I think there’s more work to be done for all of us.

SECRETARY BLINKEN:  Thanks, everyone.