Ned Price

The United States on March 1 pressed Saudi Arabia to take further measures after the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi as Washington faced growing criticism that it did not directly target Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

The U.S. on March 1 remembered Turkish soldiers killed last year in an airstrike by forces of Syria's Bashar al-Assad regime in northwestern Idlib province.  

The Biden administration says it's ready to join talks with Iran and world powers to discuss a return to the 2015 nuclear deal, in a sharp repudiation of former President Donald Trump's "maximum pressure campaign" that sought to isolate the Islamic Republic.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken expressed his support for the ongoing exploratory talks between Greece and Turkey in a  phone call with Greek counterpart Nikos Dendias earlier on Monday, Sate Department  spokesperson Ned Price said.

Turkey has criticized the United States for issuing a statement that demands the release of businessman and activist Osman Kavala and called on everyone to respect the ongoing judicial process.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is expected to speak with his Turkish counterpart, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, in the coming days, a State Department spokesman said on Wednesday while reiterating that American policy opposing Turkey's Russian S-400 missiles remains unchanged.

Myanmar's military tightened their post-coup grip on power, stepping up a campaign of intimidation against the ousted civilian leadership while pushing harsher tactics as a fifth consecutive day of nationwide demonstrations began on Feb. 10.

The U.S. and the EU welcomed on Jan. 25 the first round of talks between Greece and Turkey in nearly five years that are intended to resolve energy and border disputes in the eastern Mediterranean and Aegean.

The United States said on Monday they welcome the resumption of exploratory talks between Greece and Turkey in Istanbul and "the commitment of both governments to this process."

"We support all efforts to reduce tensions in the Eastern Mediterranean," the new State Department spokesperson, Ned Price, said on Twitter.

Leaders from around the world condemned a terror attack at an Istanbul nightclub early on Jan. 1 that killed at least 39 people and injured 69 others.      
Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed his condolences to his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the Kremlin said in a statement.