Secretary of State Antony Blinken has a lot on his plate these days, including simmering crises in Ukraine, China and North Korea, and beyond. He is at the center of a powder keg of global gamesmanship, all of which has a direct impact on America.
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While in Philadelphia, Blinken sat down for a one-on-one interview with our own Brian Taff.
One-on-One with Sec. of State Antony Blinken
Blinken is often described as low-key, measured and restrained, but none of those words fit the many challenges he now faces.
Weeks away from the critical midterm elections in America, global threats are weighing on our wallets - few more directly than Saudi Arabia's recent move to slash oil production, which inevitably drives up gas prices again.
"Exactly the wrong time to be taking this step," Blinken said. "Countries around the world are still working hard to rebound from COVID and the economic challenges that that posed...The problem with the open decisions to cut production means that, if prices go up, what does that do? It lines the pockets of Vladimir Putin."
This as Putin struggles publicly in his monthslong war in Ukraine.
That, too, is an escalating source of concern as an increasingly isolated Putin threatens to take the already devastating conflict nuclear.
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"There's been loose talk by Vladimir Putin about nuclear weapons, which first and foremost is the height or irresponsibility," Blinken said. "So, we take it very seriously. We watch it very carefully. We have not seen reason at this point to change our own nuclear posture."
But Blinken says the Kremlin has been warned that a nuclear strike would not go unanswered.
And now China is believed to be moving forward faster with plans to take Taiwan, which could draw the United States into a delicate, and potentially dangerous, new conflict.
"We see it in China's actions. We see it in the military exercises. We see it in the deployment of their forces," Blinken said.
When asked what is the possibility that the US get involved in the conflict, beyond what we have done in Ukraine, Blinken said, "We have a concern that, beyond using coercive means, they may actually, at some point, use force. There's no timeline on it, but to us, and not just to us, but for countries around the world, its imperative that the differences that exist between Taiwan and between Beijing are resolved peacefully."