Blinken to travel to UK for meetings on Middle East, Ukraine

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken gives a press conference at the end of his one-day visit to Haiti, at the Toussaint Louverture International Airport in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Sept. 5, 2024. (Roberto Schmidt/Pool photo via AP)
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken gives a press conference at the end of his one-day visit to Haiti, at the Toussaint Louverture International Airport in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Sept. 5, 2024. (Roberto Schmidt/Pool photo via AP)

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken plans to travel to the United Kingdom on Monday, the State Department says, a week after Britain suspended some arms export licenses with Israel over equipment that could be used in the war in Gaza.

In the trip slated to go through Tuesday, Blinken will open the US-UK Strategic Dialogue, “reaffirming our special relationship,” Matthew Miller, a State Department spokesperson, says.

Blinken will also meet with senior government officials to discuss issues including the Indo-Pacific, the AUKUS defense pact between the US, Australia, Britain and the Middle East, and collective efforts to support Ukraine in the war against Russia.

Britain said on Sept. 2 it was immediately suspending 30 of its 350 arms export licenses with Israel, saying there was a risk such equipment might be used to commit serious violations of international humanitarian law in Israel’s war with Hamas in the densely populated Palestinian enclave of Gaza.

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