By Matthew Lee | Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Secretary of State Antony Blinken is leaving Saturday on a diplomatic trip to Europe that includes a meeting of foreign ministers from the leading industrialized nations that will focus on the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East.
The State Department said Blinken will participate in Group of Seven and bilateral meetings outside Rome on Monday and Tuesday as the Biden administration winds down amid concerns that President-elect Donald Trump’s team may substantially alter U.S. foreign policy.
The G7 — Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States — has been at the forefront of providing military and economic support for Ukraine since Russia’s invasion in February 2022, and Democratic President Joe Biden is looking to ensure that backing is boosted and sustained. G7 members are particularly concerned about how Trump will change the U.S. approach.
Trump has criticized the billions of dollars that the Biden administration has poured into Ukraine. Washington has recently stepped up weapons shipments ad has forgiven billions in loans provided to Kyiv. The incoming Republican president has said he could end the war in 24 hours, comments that appear to suggest he would press Ukraine to surrender territory that Russia now occupies.
On the Middle East, Trump has announced a number of officials who are staunchly pro-Israel. He is expected to pursue a policy that strongly favors Israel over the aspirations of the Palestinians and others for a two-state resolution to the long-running conflict that has been focused on Gaza for the past 13 months since Hamas launched attacks inside Israel.
Several Arab foreign ministers are expected to join the G7 in Italy for urgent discussions on ending the war in Gaza and setting up a mechanism for governance, reconstruction and security for the heavily damaged territory once the fighting is over.
U.S. officials are rushing to complete the formation of that structure before Biden leaves office in January, but there have been numerous complications. Efforts were most recently jolted by the International Criminal Court’s decision to issue arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his former defense minister and top Hamas officials.
Israel’s military operations in Lebanon against Iran-backed Hezbollah will also feature in the G7 discussions. US officials say they are hopeful that a recent flurry of diplomatic activity may yield a cease-fire agreement.
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G7 relations with China will figure in Blinken’s discussions. There are increasing concerns about Beijing’s aggressiveness toward Taiwan and in the South China Sea, as well as trade disputes that Trump has threatened to address by imposing massive tariffs on Chinese products.
Blinken will meet with Pope Francis and several of his top aides in Vatican City on Wednesday before returning to Washington.