Blinken Heads To Saudi Arabia For Gulf Cooperation Council, Anti-IS Coalition Talks

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken departs on Tuesday for a trip to Saudi Arabia, where he will travel from June 6-8 for meetings with Saudi officials, the Gulf Cooperation Council and the Global Coalition to Defeat the Islamic State terror group (banned in Russia)

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 06th June, 2023) US Secretary of State Antony Blinken departs on Tuesday for a trip to Saudi Arabia, where he will travel from June 6-8 for meetings with Saudi officials, the Gulf Cooperation Council and the Global Coalition to Defeat the Islamic State terror group (banned in Russia).

Blinken and Saudi officials will discuss cooperation on a range of bilateral, regional and global issues, according to the State Department. The top diplomat is expected to discuss both economic and security cooperation, the State Department said.

Moreover, the United States has a "real national security interest" in normalizing ties between Israel and Saudi Arabia, Blinken told the American Israel Public Affairs Committee Policy (AIPAC) summit on Monday.

The US is committed to working towards normalized relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia, including on the upcoming trip, Blinken said.

The US remains engaged in the Middle East so as not to leave a vacuum for strategic competitors to fill, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Arabian Peninsula Affairs Daniel Benaim said on Friday.

The trip comes amid purported tensions in the US-Saudi relationship, stemming from US President Biden's decision to release a CIA report alleging Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's culpability in the death of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

Some analysts have speculated that Blinken's trip to Saudi Arabia may be a bid to mend ties between Washington and Riyadh.

Blinken will participate in a US-Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) ministerial meeting on June 7, the State Department said. GCC members include Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

Blinken will discuss growing cooperation between the US and GCC partners on security, stability, de-escalation, regional integration and economic opportunities across the Middle East.

In April, members of the GCC held a meeting alongside officials from Iraq, Jordan and Egypt to discuss the potential return of Syria to the League of Arab States (LAS).

The countries issued a joint statement following the meeting, in which they called for unity in Syria and its return to the "Arab bosom."

However, the US does not believe Syria deserves readmittance to the LAS at this time, State Department Principal Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel said, adding that the US will not normalize relations with the Syrian government absent "authentic progress" towards a resolution of the conflict in the country.

On June 8, Blinken will co-host a ministerial meeting of the Global Anti-ISIS Coalition, which includes 85 partner countries and organizations. Blinken will highlight the coalition's critical role in addressing the continuing threat of terrorism in the region, the State Department said.

Delegations from several non-member Central Asian countries will also attend the coalition meeting, US Deputy Special Envoy to the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS Ian McCary said on Friday.

The coalition intends to welcome a new member into the coalition during the meeting as well, McCary added.

Meeting participants will discuss the situation in Afghanistan, including growing cooperation between the coalition and Central Asian states to address mounting challenges posed by IS in the region following the Taliban's takeover of the country, McCary said.

The meeting will also focus on challenges posed by the Islamic State and other terrorist groups in Africa, where several groups have adopted similar extremist views and increasingly terrorize their populations, McCary said.

Blinken will announce a new financial aid package designed to support stabilization efforts in Iraq and Syria as well, Benaim said. The coalition's mission in Syria and Iraq has changed in nature since the end of the military campaign against IS, with a new focus on addressing humanitarian challenges in the region, McCary said.