US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will travel to Saudi Arabia next week in an effort to bolster US-Saudi strategic co-operation, the State Department said on Friday.
The June 6-8 trip comes as both the US and Saudi Arabia are seeking to broker a durable ceasefire between Sudan’s warring generals.
Mr Blinken will “discuss US-Saudi strategic co-operation on regional and global issues and a range of bilateral issues including economic and security co-operation”, the State Department said.
He will participate in a ministerial meeting on Wednesday with the Gulf Co-operation Council, and on Thursday will meet representatives from partner nations fighting ISIS in Riyadh.
The goal of the GCC meeting will be to “promote security, stability, de-escalation, regional integration and economic opportunities across the Middle East”, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said in a release.
Mr Blinken’s trip is also likely to focus on convincing Saudi Arabia to formally recognise Israel as part of the Abraham Accords, which would be a major prize for the US.
Riyadh has resisted so far, holding to its demand that Israel recognise an independent Palestinian state and that Washington provide security guarantees.
