Blinken to Discuss China, Ukraine During Meetings on Trip to Indo-Pacific - State Dept.

WASHINGTON, (Sputnik) - US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will discuss challenges posed by China and the situation in Ukraine during meetings with the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad) partners on his upcoming trip to the Indo-Pacific region, Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia and Pacific Affairs Daniel Kritenbrink said.

“As leaders of four of the world’s key democracies, I think it will be natural for them to address all of the important issues of the day and I’m sure Ukraine will be one of them given the seriousness of the issue and the threat it poses to the rules-based global order,” Kritenbrink said on Friday. “I’m confident that when our foreign ministers get together that they will reaffirm those principles and values that we hold dear, they will discuss challenges to that order and to those values and I’m confident that part of that discussion will relate to the challenges that China poses to those values and to that rules-based order in a number of sectors.”

Blinken is scheduled to visit Australia, Fiji and Hawaii on February 7-13 to engage with Indo-Pacific allies and partners across the region, including at the Quad Foreign Ministers Ministerial alongside India, Japan and Australia, Kritenbrink said.

Blinken will also travel to Fiji, where he will host a hybrid meeting with Pacific island leaders, 18 of whom have been invited to attend, where the US will demonstrate their long-standing commitment to the region, Kritenbrink added.