US State Department:

1. Foreign Ministers of the Global Coalition met in Washington today at the invitation of U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to review and accelerate the campaign for the lasting defeat of ISIS. We remain firmly united in our outrage at ISIS’s atrocities and in our determination to eliminate this global threat and overcome its false, destructive narrative. We reiterate our commitment to an integrated, multidimensional, and comprehensive approach to defeat ISIS and its global networks, fully recognizing this will require sustained, focused efforts.

2. We welcome the decisive milestones to date in reducing ISIS’ territorial control and degrading its leadership, access to resources, and global networks. We commend the efforts of our Iraqi partners, who have liberated more than 60 percent of their territory once held by ISIS and made significant progress recovering Mosul. We are gratified that Syrian partners have cleared ISIS from more than a third of the territory it once controlled in Syria. Now ISIS is on the defensive in Raqqa. We commend the efforts of Coalition and Syrian opposition forces who, via Operation Euphrates Shield, have successfully cleared ISIS from al-Bab, Dabiq, Jarabulus and other areas. Overall, the number of ISIS fighters has been reduced by half. They have been scattered in Libya and pressed on multiple fronts elsewhere, including Afghanistan and Africa. Outside of Iraq and Syria, we have put greater pressure on ISIS’ branches and global networks. Coalition partner information sharing, diplomatic engagement, and military strikes have put pressure on ISIS finances. Multinational cooperation has disrupted potential attacks worldwide, degraded ISIS’ ability to operate across international borders and diminished its on-line influence.

3. We recognize that the gains against ISIS have not been without cost. We honor the sacrifices of our partners, notably those in Iraq and Syria, but also in Libya, Afghanistan, Turkey and elsewhere in Africa and the Middle East, who have been on the front lines of this effort. We also recognize and deplore the suffering of countless civilians because of ISIS, exemplified by its violence against men, women and children, enslavement and trafficking of women, recruitment of child soldiers and persecution of minority communities.

4. Looking ahead, we are committed to denying ISIS sanctuary and to preventing ISIS from dispersing its fighters, weapons, or resources within Iraq and Syria or elsewhere. Our Coalition is committed to supporting local forces as they move to liberate Mosul, Raqqa and other ISIS strongholds and work toward its final defeat. We also stand ready to help liberated communities recover from the damage and suffering inflicted by ISIS. We underscore the need for safeguarding civilians, as well as full and immediate humanitarian access, especially for UN agencies and their partners, in order to address the basic needs of the communities liberated from ISIS, as well as displaced persons and others in need in besieged and hard-to-reach areas of Syria...

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