WASHINGTON: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken plans to keep working to end the Gaza and Lebanon wars in his time remaining before handing over to President-elect Donald Trump, the State Department said Thursday.
“We will continue to pursue an end to the war in Gaza, an end to the war in Lebanon, a surge of humanitarian assistance (to Gaza), and that is our duty to pursue those policies right up until noon on January 20 when the president-elect takes office,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters.
Blinken, who has made 11 trips to the Middle East since Hamas’s attack on Israel in October 2023, has been pushing for months for a ceasefire deal in Gaza that includes the release of hostages.
Blinken to make another push to defuse conflicts in Mideast
Trump has suggested he will give freer rein to Israel as it wages war in Gaza, and has attacked the stance of President Joe Biden, who in turn has come under fire from the left of his Democratic Party for not further reining in the US ally.
Blinken will also seek “tangible progress” in other priorities including working “to win the competition we’re engaged in with China, while responsibly managing the relationship between our two countries” and “ensuring that Ukraine is in the best position possible for success,” Miller said.
Miller said that Blinken had appointed Steve Mull, a former career diplomat who has been ambassador to Poland and Lithuania, to manage a transition with Trump’s team.
Biden earlier promised a “peaceful and orderly transition” after Trump’s victory, a contrast to the chaos in 2020-2021 when Trump refused to recognize Biden’s win.
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