United States of America Secretary of State Antony J Blinken met President William Ruto for a meeting on Thursday in New York.
In a statement, Blinken lauded Kenya saying its leadership in the Multinational Security Support mission in Haiti has garnered international attention and respect.
“I just want to again thank you for Kenya’s remarkable leadership of the Multinational Security Support mission in Haiti,” Blinken said
“I was in Haiti a couple of weeks ago and saw for myself Kenya’s leadership on the ground.”
Blinken noted that despite the regional challenges in Africa, Kenya is playing an essential leadership role.
“We look forward to continuing our discussions about how we can work together even more, particularly to help support your economic programs and economic growth, as well as the important work for the Kenyan people” Blinken said,
President Ruto on his part thanked Blinken for the friendship between Kenya and the United States
“It was a historic moment when I came for the state visit, much is underway with Microsoft, with all the other agreements," he said.
"With the CHIPS Act, and the discussions around investments and trade, I’m very happy that we’ve made progress on our negotiations on the strategic trade and investment agreement.”
President Ruto who was also in Haiti a few days ago, said there was alot of optimism from the officers in Haiti.
“I think they’ve been here for far too long. Listening to the commanders and the Haitian police on the ground, from MSS and the Haitian police, significant progress was made. The airport, their hospitals, the police academy, and around the port are a lot more secure but with very big gaps of more additional personnel, and more equipment. A lot more logistics is required, a lot more resources are needed,” Ruto added
He lauded the US for the support in terms of equipment and support at MSS and everything else they are doing around the continent, particularly in South Sudan, and DRC.
"I will be looking forward to a conversation around those issues and to see how our partnership can help drive some of the solutions in those areas," he said.
