Washington: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will travel to Israel, the West Bank, Morocco, and Algeria over March 26-30 to discuss the Ukraine war, Israeli-Palestinian relations, and Iran, the State Department announced Thursday.
Blinken will meet separately with Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah, and while in Morocco will meet the UAE’s ruler, Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed.
State Department Acting Assistant Secretary Yael Lempert said Blinken will be talking to leaders about the impact of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which has driven up oil and food prices.
“We know this pain is keenly felt in the Middle East and North Africa, where most countries import at least half of their wheat” — much of it from Ukraine, she told reporters.
The war “will only continue to increase the price of basic staples like bread in the region, taking money from the pockets of the hardest working and most vulnerable families,” she said.