Antony Blinken

I think when we can put it in those terms and Americans can see that we're making investments in something like the NATO alliance precisely because we want to avoid conflict, we want to prevent war, we want to deter aggression, that's something that they sign on to, that they buy into.

First, I make no apologies for ending America's longest war. This, I think, is a signal achievement of the president's. The fact that we will not have another generation of Americans fighting and dying in Afghanistan, I think that's an important achievement in and of itself. It's also actually strengthened our position around the world, and I see that every single day.

First, I make no apologies for ending America's longest war. This, I think, is a signal achievement of the president's. The fact that we will not have another generation of Americans fighting and dying in Afghanistan, I think that's an important achievement in and of itself. It's also actually strengthened our position around the world, and I see that every single day.

Our adversaries would have liked nothing more than for us to have remained bogged down in Afghanistan. And for another decade, would have been good by them.

Our adversaries would have liked nothing more than for us to have remained bogged down in Afghanistan. And for another decade, would have been good by them.

There was never going to be an easy way to extricate ourselves from 20 years of war. I think the question was, what were we going to do moving forward from the withdrawal? We also had to learn lessons from Afghanistan itself. Here at the State Department, one of the things that I ordered almost immediately was an after-action review to try to make sure that we understood what had we gotten right.

There was never going to be an easy way to extricate ourselves from 20 years of war. I think the question was, what were we going to do moving forward from the withdrawal? We also had to learn lessons from Afghanistan itself. Here at the State Department, one of the things that I ordered almost immediately was an after-action review to try to make sure that we understood what had we gotten right.

Also, what had we gotten wrong? in the withdrawal itself. I brought back senior diplomats to do that. We produced a lengthy report with about 40 recommendations. We followed through on most of them to make sure that we're in a better position to deal with a crisis, to deal with an evacuation like Afghanistan, and we are.

Also, what had we gotten wrong? in the withdrawal itself. I brought back senior diplomats to do that. We produced a lengthy report with about 40 recommendations. We followed through on most of them to make sure that we're in a better position to deal with a crisis, to deal with an evacuation like Afghanistan, and we are.

And in fact, we've actually put into practice many of those recommendations in subsequent crises that we had to face, whether it was in Lebanon, whether it was in Israel, whether it was in Sudan, All of that we brought to bear based on lessons that we've learned from Afghanistan.

And in fact, we've actually put into practice many of those recommendations in subsequent crises that we had to face, whether it was in Lebanon, whether it was in Israel, whether it was in Sudan, All of that we brought to bear based on lessons that we've learned from Afghanistan.

Look, at different moments, we may have been... Look, there have been different moments where we had real concerns about actions that Russia might take, including even potentially the use of nuclear weapons. That very much focused the mind. But again, I think throughout, we've been able to navigate this in a way that has kept us away from direct conflict with Russia. Now, Russia's engaged in...

Look, at different moments, we may have been... Look, there have been different moments where we had real concerns about actions that Russia might take, including even potentially the use of nuclear weapons. That very much focused the mind. But again, I think throughout, we've been able to navigate this in a way that has kept us away from direct conflict with Russia. Now, Russia's engaged in...

all sorts of nefarious activities, so-called hybrid attacks of one kind or another, whether it's in cyberspace, whether it's acts of sabotage, assassination. Those things are happening. They're happening in Europe. And this is something that we're working very closely on with many of our partners.

all sorts of nefarious activities, so-called hybrid attacks of one kind or another, whether it's in cyberspace, whether it's acts of sabotage, assassination. Those things are happening. They're happening in Europe. And this is something that we're working very closely on with many of our partners.

But in terms of direct conflict, I don't think we've been close, but it's something that we've had to be very mindful of.

But in terms of direct conflict, I don't think we've been close, but it's something that we've had to be very mindful of.

So first, if you look at the trajectory of the conflict, because we saw it coming, we were able to make sure that not only were we prepared and allies and partners were prepared, but that the Ukraine was prepared.

So first, if you look at the trajectory of the conflict, because we saw it coming, we were able to make sure that not only were we prepared and allies and partners were prepared, but that the Ukraine was prepared.

We made sure that well before the Russian aggression happened, starting in September, the Russian aggression happened in February, starting in September, and then again in December, we quietly got a lot of weapons to Ukraine to make sure that they had in hand what they needed to defend themselves.