Today marks the 100th day of the hunger strike of Oleh Sentsov, a Ukrainian filmmaker who is arbitrarily detained in a remote Russian prison. The United States is deeply concerned about his deteriorating health, and we renew our demand that Russia immediately release him and all Ukrainian citizens unlawfully imprisoned in Russia and on the Crimean peninsula.

We are alarmed about the prospect of another innocent person dying in Russian custody. We hope Russian authorities will release Sentsov to avoid such a tragedy, which would inevitably lead to calls for those officials responsible to be held to account.

Sentsov was arrested in the Russian-occupied Ukrainian territory of Crimea, had Russian citizenship imposed upon him, and was later sentenced to 20 years in prison by a court in the Russian Federation. His conviction on charges of plotting terrorist acts is widely regarded to be without merit and a cynical reprisal for his opposition to Russia’s occupation of Crimea.

On May 14, he began an open-ended hunger strike protesting the unlawful imprisonment of over 60 Ukrainian political prisoners in Russia, demanding their release. We echo his call: it is time for these prisoners – including Sentsov himself – to come home.

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Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs Alice Wells will travel to New Delhi, India; Kathmandu, Nepal; Hanoi, Vietnam; and Beijing, China August 22-30.

In New Delhi, she will consult with her counterparts in the Government of India regarding preparations for the U.S.-India 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue. In Kathmandu, she will hold bilateral meetings with senior Nepali officials and meet with civil society representatives and business leaders. Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Wells will then travel to Hanoi to participate in the Indian Ocean Conference, an annual event hosted by the Indian Foundation. There she will deliver remarks on August 28 that address the conference theme of “Building Regional Architectures” and how the U.S. Indo-Pacific strategy advances regional connectivity. In Beijing, she will hold bilateral meetings to discuss a range of regional issues.

For updates, please follow @State_SCA. For press inquiries, please contact SCA-Press@state.gov.

The Office of Website Management, Bureau of Public Affairs, manages this site as a portal for information from the U.S. State Department.
External links to other Internet sites should not be construed as an endorsement of the views or privacy policies contained therein.

The below is attributable to Spokesperson Heather Nauert: ‎

Secretary Michael R. Pompeo spoke today with Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed al Nahyan. They discussed the importance of supporting efforts to achieve a lasting peace in Afghanistan. They affirmed their mutual interest in promoting security and stability in the region and their continued commitment to the strong bilateral relationship between the United States and the United Arab Emirates.

The Office of Website Management, Bureau of Public Affairs, manages this site as a portal for information from the U.S. State Department.
External links to other Internet sites should not be construed as an endorsement of the views or privacy policies contained therein.

The below is attributable to Spokesperson Heather Nauert: ‎

Secretary Pompeo spoke yesterday with New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters. Secretary Pompeo thanked Foreign Minister Peters for New Zealand’s continued support in working towards the final, fully verified denuclearization of the DPRK as agreed to by Chairman Kim Jong Un, including the implementation of UN Security Council sanctions. They discussed cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region and joint efforts at strengthening the rules-based regional order.

The Office of Website Management, Bureau of Public Affairs, manages this site as a portal for information from the U.S. State Department.
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The United States expresses its deep appreciation to the Federal Republic of Germany for re-admitting former Nazi slave-labor camp guard Jakiw Palij, who was removed from the United States on August 20.

During World War II, Palij served as an armed guard at the Trawniki slave-labor camp for Jews in Nazi-occupied Poland. He concealed his Nazi service when he immigrated to the United States from Germany in 1949. A federal court stripped Palij of his citizenship in 2003 and a U.S. immigration judge ordered him removed from the United States in 2004 based on his wartime activities and postwar immigration fraud.

The Office of Website Management, Bureau of Public Affairs, manages this site as a portal for information from the U.S. State Department.
External links to other Internet sites should not be construed as an endorsement of the views or privacy policies contained therein.