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UAE, US, Israeli FMs to Meet in Washington Soon to Boost Abraham Accords

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken (L) meets Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid (R) in Rome in June 2021. (AFP)
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken (L) meets Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid (R) in Rome in June 2021. (AFP)
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UAE, US, Israeli FMs to Meet in Washington Soon to Boost Abraham Accords

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken (L) meets Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid (R) in Rome in June 2021. (AFP)
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken (L) meets Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid (R) in Rome in June 2021. (AFP)

Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid will hold a trilateral meeting in Washington with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and United Arab Emirates Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan in the coming days, political sources in Tel Aviv said.

The meeting aims to discuss cooperation between the three countries within the framework of the Abraham Accords, in addition to Iran and the Biden administration’s nuclear talks with Tehran.

Lapid is expected to travel to Washington on Monday for talks with senior Biden administration officials, including Blinken, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and Vice President Kamala Harris.

Lapid’s office said that three ministers should discuss progress made in the Emirati-Israeli relations since the signing of the Abraham Accords last year, and to study additional opportunities to boost peace in the Middle East, in addition to security issues and regional stability.

Blinken last month pledged to encourage more Arab countries to normalize relations with Israel as he hosted a virtual meeting with Israeli and Arab counterparts to mark the first anniversary of the set of landmark diplomatic agreements.

The leaders of Israel, the UAE and Bahrain signed the Abraham Accords, widely seen as a diplomatic success for former President Donald Trump, at the White House in September of last year.

Biden has backed the deals since taking office in January, and senior aides have said they were working to get additional Arab countries to normalize relations with Israel after decades of enmity.

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Italy Plans to Return Ambassador to Syria to Reflect New Diplomatic Developments, Minister Says

Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks while meeting with members of the G7, on July 11, 2024, during the NATO summit in Washington. (AP)
Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks while meeting with members of the G7, on July 11, 2024, during the NATO summit in Washington. (AP)
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Italy Plans to Return Ambassador to Syria to Reflect New Diplomatic Developments, Minister Says

Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks while meeting with members of the G7, on July 11, 2024, during the NATO summit in Washington. (AP)
Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks while meeting with members of the G7, on July 11, 2024, during the NATO summit in Washington. (AP)

Italy plans to send an ambassador back to Syria after a decade-long absence, the country’s foreign minister said, in a diplomatic move that could spark divisions among European Union allies.

Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, speaking in front of relevant parliamentary committees Thursday, announced Rome’s intention to re-establish diplomatic ties with Syria to prevent Russia from monopolizing diplomatic efforts in the Middle Eastern country.

Moscow is considered a key supporter of Syrian President Bashar Assad, who has remained in power despite widespread Western isolation and civilian casualties since the start of Syria’s civil war in March 2011.

Peaceful protests against the Assad government — part of the so-called “Arab Spring” popular uprisings that spread across some of the Middle East — were met by a brutal crackdown, and the uprising quickly spiraled into a full-blown civil war.

The conflict was further complicated by the intervention of foreign forces on all sides and a rising militancy, first by al-Qaida-linked groups and then the ISIS group until its defeat on the battlefield in 2019.

The war, which has killed nearly half a million people and displaced half the country’s pre-war population of 23 million, is now largely frozen, despite ongoing low-level fighting.

The country is effectively carved up into areas controlled by the Damascus-based government of Assad, various opposition groups and Syrian Kurdish forces.

In the early days of the conflict, many Western and Arab countries cut off relations with Syria, including Italy, which has since managed Syria-related diplomacy through its embassy in Beirut.

However, since Assad has regained control over most of the territory, neighboring Arab countries have gradually restored relations, with the most symbolically significant move coming last year when Syria was re-admitted to the Arab League.

Tajani said Thursday the EU’s policy in Syria should be adapted to the “development of the situation,” adding that Italy has received support from Austria, Croatia, Greece, the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Cyprus and Slovakia.

However, the US and allied countries in Europe have largely continued to hold firm in their stance against Assad’s government, due to concerns over human rights violations.