2023-06-02 17:33:12
Blinken’s June 6-8 trip to the kingdom comes as the two countries are mediating in the conflict in Sudan
The head of the American diplomacy Antony Blinken will visit Saudi Arabia next week, a key ally country with which the United States maintains delicate relations, announced Friday the State Department.
Mr. Blinken’s trip to the kingdom from June 6 to 8 comes as the two countries are mediating in the conflict in Sudan, without however managing to enforce several truces between the belligerent generals.
The US Secretary of State will discuss with Saudi officials “strategic cooperation” between the two countries on regional and bilateral issues, said the statement by State Department spokesman Matthew Miller.
He will also participate in a ministerial meeting on Wednesday with the Gulf Cooperation Council, then on Thursday in a meeting of the coalition of countries fighting against the Islamic State (IS) group in Riyadh.
The trip comes a few weeks after that of White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and nearly a year after that of President Joe Biden in the summer of 2022, which had mixed success.
Relations between Washington and Riyadh are notoriously complicated as President Biden’s administration accuses the oil-rich Gulf monarchy of human rights abuses and of undermining crude prices.
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