US secretary of state Antony Blinken will on Saturday begin a visit to Israel, the West Bank, Morocco and Algeria to discuss Russia's invasion of Ukraine and its impact on oil and food prices.
State department spokesman Ned Price said he "will emphasise to all of the foreign leaders he meets that the United States stands in solidarity with the government and people of Ukraine in the face of the Kremlin's aggression".
Mr Blinken is expected to urge them to join the US in sanctioning Russia if Moscow "does not change course".
Mr Blinken will also discuss regional issues, including Iran’s nuclear programme, Arab normalisation with Israel and rescuing the moribund two-state solution for establishing a Palestinian state alongside Israel.
In Israel he will urge prime minister Naftali Bennett and foreign minister Yair Lapid to comprehensively condemn Russia's war on Ukraine and sanction Russia. They argue that Israel must consider the situation of 150,000 Russian Jews and maintain relations with Russian president Vladimir Putin, as Mr Bennett has been involved in mediating an end to the war.
He will attend a meeting of counterparts from Israel and the three Arab countries that have normalised relations with Israel – Bahrain, the Emirates and Morocco.
Mr Blinken will try to budge Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas from his neutral stand on the Ukraine war. Russia has traditionally supported Palestinian self-determination and, unlike the US, promptly recognised the 1988 Palestinian declaration of independence.
US continuity
The Biden administration has not reversed the actions of its predecessor by promoting Palestinian-Israeli negotiations or reopening the Palestinian mission in Washington and the US consulate in occupied East Jerusalem. The administration only partially resumed funding to the UN agency caring for Palestinian refugees.
In Morocco, Mr Blinken will not only meet foreign minister Nasser Bourita but also de facto Emirati ruler Mohammed bin Zayed. He and his Saudi counterpart, Mohammed bin Salman, have refused to boost oil exports to compensate for reduced or sanctioned Russian exports.
The Emiratis and Saudis have stuck to the Opec oil exporters' cartel limit of 400,000 barrels month-on-month in solidarity with Russia and other Opec members. Emiratis and Saudis have courted Russia to diversify international ties and arms supplies and lessen dependence on the US.
In Algeria, a long-standing Russian ally, Mr Blinken will conclude his tour with talks with president Abdelmajid Tebboune and foreign minister Ramtane Lamamra, who will stick to the Opec line. Higher oil prices mean greater revenues for countries facing rapidly rising costs of imported grain.
Algeria is also resentful over the Biden administration's refusal to reverse President Donald Trump's recognition of Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara despite the Algeria-backed self-determination struggle of the Sahrawi people.
