The issue is likely to dominate the two-day summit, which will include foreign ministers from three Arab states normalizing ties with Israel, even as the peace process with the Palestinians remains deadlocked. Blinken also pledged to work to improve the Palestinian situation. Blinken’s visit comes as some US allies in the region question the commitment of President Joe Biden’s government and prepare for the consequences of an Iranian nuclear deal and the Ukraine crisis. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register Nuclear talks were close to an agreement several weeks ago until Russia demanded a last-minute request from the United States, insisting that sanctions imposed on Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine should not affect its trade with Iran. . Restoring a 2015 nuclear deal “is the best way to get Iran’s nuclear program back in the box,” Blinken said. But whether that happens or not, “our commitment to the basic principle of Iran never acquiring a nuclear weapon is unwavering,” he said, along with his Israeli counterpart Yair Lapid. “The United States will continue to resist Iran when it threatens us or when it threatens our allies and partners.” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken attends a meeting of European Union leaders amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Brussels, Belgium, March 24, 2022. REUTERS / Evelyn Hockstein / File Photo read more The Lapid-hosted summit at a desert hotel later Sunday and Monday will include the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco, which were part of the Trump administration’s so-called Abraham Accords on 2020. normalization of relations with Israel. Egypt’s foreign minister, whose country completed 43 years of peace with Israel on Saturday, will also attend the summit. “Normalization is becoming the new norm in the region,” Blinken said, adding that Washington hoped to “bring in more.” This, he said, should mean “forging tangible improvements in the lives of Palestinians and maintaining our long-term goal of a two-state solution through negotiations.” Blinken meets with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank city of Ramallah later Sunday. The meeting place of the foreign ministers is Sde Boker, where the founder of Israel and first prime minister, David Ben-Gurion, has retired and is buried. The remote collective farm of the Negev desert has long been a symbol of Israeli innovation. It will give delegates the opportunity to hold talks calmly, said one Israeli planning official, calling it “our version of Camp David.” Sde Boker may also have provided an indisputable alternative to Jerusalem, which Israel considers its capital – a regime not recognized by most countries, in the absence of a solution to the Palestinian claims to the city. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register Writes Dan Williams. Additional Report by Arshad Mohammed in Washington. Edited by: Gerry Doyle and Raissa Kasolowsky Our role models: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
