So at the same time, we will work on many issues. Tony mentioned them, from climate change to the question of the impacts of the pandemic and migration. Of course, we’ve seen strong support throughout the hemisphere about the importance of what is happening in Ukraine. We need to make sure that we continue to have that strong unity across the hemisphere. And we will talk about how we can continue to address the impacts of this war, including on the question of food security, food prices, and the impacts of – also on gas prices. So affordability is also a part of the discussions we’ll be having today.
SECRETARY BLINKEN: (In French.)
So a lot of work to do, and we have a very positive relationship, very honest one between us, and we hope that we are going to have this meeting today, other steps ahead in our common objectives. Thank you very much, Antony. Thank you, Mélanie.
FOREIGN SECRETARY EBRARD: Good morning. Thank you very much, Antony, in the first place for the warm reception for the Mexican delegation, and congratulations for the summit. Really amazing, the organization and everything. Thank you very much for that.
Hello, Mélanie. Nice to meet you – to see you again and the Canadian delegation. It’s a pleasure to be here.
Our ability to coordinate, collaborate, cooperate is going to make a huge difference in actually advancing the various initiatives that this summit is launching or reinforcing. So I welcome this opportunity for us to compare notes as we head into the final day of the summit, and to look not just at the three days that we spent together here in Los Angeles, but the next 362 days to work together to make good on the commitments that we share.
FOREIGN MINISTER JOLY: (Via interpreter) And of course, what it is in our thoughts now are the impacts of the war in Ukraine, impacts not only in Ukraine but throughout the world, here in the hemisphere, in our continent. We know the geopolitical impacts of the war are huge, specifically when it comes to food and gas prices. Thank you very much.
(In French.)
FOREIGN MINISTER JOLY: Thank you, Tony, for hosting us. It’s always a pleasure to see you. We’ve been seeing each other a lot over the past months. Good to see you, Marcelo, as well, and thank you for organizing this meeting. It is the first meeting of the foreign ministers of the three countries together, so I hope this becomes a tradition, and of course we will work on preparing the North American Leaders’ Summit which will be happening in Mexico, and I think, Marcelo, you just said to the press Mexico City.
As Antony Blinken mentioned, we have a lot of things to work on daily – daily – because it’s a very intense relationship between our countries. And we have common purposes in order to prepare the North American Leaders’ Summit this year, which is going to be held in Mexico, maybe Mexico City. And so we have right now some results for the summit which are very positive in our view, from the Mexico view – point of view, regarding the America prosperity, all the continent prosperity in the next months and years, how to recover from pandemic, how to coordinate our efforts in order to strengthen our inter-American organizations, and how to deal with a regional approach for migration and labor mobility.
SECRETARY BLINKEN: Good morning, everyone. It’s a great pleasure to be here in Los Angeles with my friends and partners from Mexico and from Canada. Foreign Minister Ebrard, Foreign Minister Joly, thank you for joining us today. Simply put, Mexico and Canada are our two literally and figuratively closest partners in the hemisphere. We are working together every single day on the issues that have animated this summit, including working together to try to engage the COVID challenge, the climate challenge, the migration challenge, the technology challenge that each of our countries faces. And I think we are brought together by a common conviction that we are going to be much more effective in dealing with these challenges when we work together than when we stand alone. And that’s been the spirit that’s animated the relationships among us, including at the North American Leaders’ Summit that President Biden and President López Obrador and Prime Minister Trudeau have animated so strongly.
So with that, thank you.
So thank you both. It’s a pleasure to be working with you again.
