WASHINGTON: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will travel to Saudi Arabia next week at a time of touchy relations between Washington and its long-time Middle East ally, the State Department announced.
The Sudan and Yemen wars and building relationship are on the menu for Blinken’s June 6-8 trip.
It comes as both the United States and Saudi Arabia are seeking to broker a durable cease fire between Sudan’s warring generals in talks in the Red Sea city of Jeddah.
“There is just a tremendous amount of work that we’re trying to do” with the visit, said Daniel Benaim, a senior State Department official dealing with Arabian Peninsula affairs.
“We’re focused on an affirmative agenda here and the great deal of work our countries can do together.”
Blinken will participate in a ministerial meeting on Wednesday with the Gulf Cooperation Council, and on Thursday he will join a meeting in Riyadh of the 80-strong coalition of countries fighting the IS group. — AFP
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