The telephone conversation that happened on Thursday evening with United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio majored on key issues of concern, including the Haiti mission.
During the call, the two leaders reviewed bilateral relations between Kenya and the US and reaffirmed their mutual commitment to strengthening existing cooperation.
According to President Ruto, the United States Secretary of State confirmed that America had not stopped its support for the Multinational Security Support (MSS) Mission in Haiti, as alleged.
Secretary Rubio and the head of state also discussed regional peace and security in Africa, particularly the situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
Ruto informed the US Secretary of State about the upcoming joint meeting between the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the East African Community (EAC).
The meeting, scheduled for Friday, February 7, and Saturday, February 8, in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, was organised as part of broader efforts to resolve the conflict in eastern DRC.
President Ruto’s phone conversation with Rubio came a day after reports circulated online suggesting that the United States had withdrawn its support for the peacekeeping mission in Haiti.
The reports indicated that US President Donald Trump had written to the United Nations (UN) announcing the withdrawal from the mission and a subsequent freeze on Ksh1.7 million allocated for it.
However, the US government dismissed these claims, clarifying that it had not paused all assistance for Haiti’s Multinational Security Support (MSS) mission.
According to US secretary Rubio, US government had approved waivers allowing for millions of dollars in mission-critical assistance to the MSS mission and the Haitian National Police.
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