I send my deepest condolences to the family and friends of Sabika Sheikh, who was killed in the tragic shooting at Santa Fe High School in Texas, yesterday. Sabika was in the United States on the State Department-sponsored Youth Exchange and Study program, helping to build ties between the United States and her native Pakistan. Sabika’s death and that of the other victims is heartbreaking and will be mourned deeply both here in the United States, and in Pakistan.

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The below is attributable to Spokesperson Heather Nauert:

On May 18, Secretary Pompeo called Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed to congratulate the Prime Minister on his new position and offer the United States’ strong support for the government and people of Ethiopia as they continue efforts to deepen democratic reforms.

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The U.S. Department of State is pleased to make available the Record of Discussion between the United States and the United Arab Emirates setting out the understanding on Open Skies announced by Secretary Pompeo on May 14. Memorializing high-level political commitments by both governments, the Record of Discussion affirms their strong commitment to maintain the U.S-UAE Air Transport Agreement of 2002, all rights and obligations of which remain in force, and expresses their sincere desire to maintain the many benefits that Agreement has created.

Separately, the UAE government informed the U.S. government that its air carriers have no current plans to make any changes to the Fifth Freedom services that they operate in accordance with that Agreement, stipulating that nothing in their communication amends or otherwise changes the 2002 Agreement or any rights therein.

We welcome this positive outcome for the strong and multi-faceted bilateral relationship between the United States and the United Arab Emirates and reaffirm that the Department of State will continue to ensure our Open Skies policy benefits U.S. stakeholders as intended.

Please find the signed Record of Discussion between the United States and the United Arab Emirates here.

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External links to other Internet sites should not be construed as an endorsement of the views or privacy policies contained therein.

On May 15-17, the United States and the European Commission co-hosted the 2018 Counter Nuclear Smuggling (CNS) Workshop at the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC) in Karlsruhe, Germany.

The workshop brought together some 70 experts from 22 countries and international organizations to discuss significant real-world CNS challenges, review effective CNS strategies, and refine information-sharing mechanisms that support international coordination. Workshop instructors included experts from the JRC, the U.S. Department of State, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Department of Energy, INTERPOL, and the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Building on global efforts to keep dangerous nuclear and other radioactive materials out of terrorists’ hands, the 2018 workshop highlighted the following elements of an effective CNS strategy: national plans for coordinating government agencies in responding to nuclear smuggling incidents, nuclear forensics and other technical tools used to investigate and prosecute nuclear smuggling, and opportunities for bilateral and multilateral CNS coordination.

The workshop also gave participants an opportunity to put CNS strategies into practice through an interactive exercise, which emphasized that close coordination between law enforcement investigators, technical experts, and prosecutors; technical tools such as nuclear forensics; and national and bilateral information-sharing mechanisms are essential to effective CNS investigations.

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Ambassador Tina Kaidanow, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs, will travel to Germany, Japan, India, and Singapore May 20-June 3, 2018.

In Germany, Ambassador Kaidanow will take part in the annual Chiefs of Mission Conference sponsored by U.S. European Command. Ambassador Kaidanow will update senior diplomats and military officials on steps the Bureau is taking to implement the Administration’s vision of strengthening U.S. allies and partners through improvements to U.S. defense trade regulation and government advocacy to expand opportunities for U.S. industry, drive innovation, and promote American manufacturing jobs.

In Japan, Ambassador Kaidanow will meet with senior officials to discuss a wide range of security and defense trade issues, and will hold a roundtable with representatives from Japanese defense manufacturers. For nearly 60 years, the U.S.-Japan Alliance has been the cornerstone of peace, stability, and freedom in the Indo-Pacific region, and decades of U.S. security cooperation have served to bolster Japan’s self-defense capabilities. Since 2013, Japan has contracted $14.9 billion in government-to-government purchases in U.S. equipment through the Foreign Military Sales system, as well as $14.4 billion in U.S. defense articles to Japan via the Direct Commercial Sales process.

In India, Ambassador Kaidanow will hold talks on defense trade and peacekeeping, which are among two key areas of the rapidly growing U.S.-India partnership as envisioned in the Administration’s Indo-Pacific strategy. U.S.-India bilateral defense trade has risen from near zero to $15 billion since 2008. India is projected to spend billions on military modernization over the next decade, and talks will focus on expanding our security cooperation while furthering opportunities for American industry.

In Singapore, Ambassador Kaidanow will join a delegation of senior U.S. officials led by Secretary of Defense James N. Mattis for the Shangri-La Dialogue, a forum for exchanges among defense and security policy professionals from across the Indo-Pacific region sponsored by the International Institute for Strategic Studies. Ambassador Kaidanow will also meet with senior civilian and military officials from countries around the globe to discuss regional security, maritime security, and defense trade issues.

For further information, please contact the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, Office of Congressional and Public Affairs at PM-CPA@state.gov and follow @StateDeptPM on Twitter.

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.