Blinken meets with Pacific Island leaders

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken welcomed the Presidents of the Republic of Palau, the Federated States of Micronesia, and the Republic of the Marshall Islands to the State Department on Thursday. The leaders are in Washington to take part in the U.S.-Pacific Island Country Summit. Before their meeting, the Biden administration released its new Pacific strategy designed to bolster U.S. engagement with more than a dozen island nations on issues including climate change and maritime security while pledging to expand the U.S. diplomatic presence in the region.

as well as plans for $810 million in new aid for Pacific Island nations. Among the new initiatives the White House announced are plans to ask Congress to appropriate $600 million over 10 years to support economic development and promote climate resilience efforts for Pacific fisheries and establish a regional mission of the U.S. Agency for International Development in Suva, Fiji. The White House also reiterated previously announced plans to open embassies in the Solomon Islands, Tonga and Kiribati.