US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Kenyan President William Ruto on Thursday.
Several important issues were discussed during the meeting, including Kenya’s decision to take the lead in the multinational force to be deployed in Haiti. “The Secretary of State thanked Kenya for considering leading a multinational security support mission in Haiti, for tackling the crisis in Sudan, for promoting peace in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, and for fighting extremism in Somalia,” said US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller.
The meeting was also an opportunity for the head of US diplomacy to express the United States’ appreciation “for Kenya’s long-standing strategic partnership with the United States and for its significant contributions to peace and stability around the world”, explained the spokesman in a statement.
Antony Blinken is not the only foreign leader to meet with Kenya’s Head of State to discuss Haiti. Dominican President Luis Abinader also had the opportunity to discuss with William Ruto his offer to take command of the multinational force.
Since the end of Kenya’s assessment mission in Haiti, very little progress has been made towards reaching an agreement between the member countries of the permanent UN Security Council, who will have to approve the resolution introduced by the United States and supported by Ecuador.
At the 78th General Assembly of the United Nations, held in New York since September 19, the presidents of several countries, including the United States, Honduras and the Dominican Republic, among others, called on the UN to speed up the process of deploying the multinational force as quickly as possible.
In his address on September 20, Dominican President Luis Abinader issued a firm warning to the international community to ensure that the situation in Haiti does not turn into a “chronicle of a foretold tragedy”.
Deployment of a multinational force in Haiti: US Secretary of State meets Kenyan President