Sharjah24 - AFP: Beginning a week of diplomatic visits with the next UK government, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke on Middle East and Ukrainian issues as he landed in London late on Monday.
Blinken's visit comes ahead of a trip to Washington on Friday by Prime Minister Keir Starmer, his second meeting at the White House since his Labour party won July elections, sweeping out the Conservatives after 14 years.
Blinken -- the highest-ranking US official to visit London since Labour's triumph -- is expected to meet Starmer and Foreign Secretary David Lammy during his talks Tuesday.
The top US diplomat will discuss Asia, the Middle East and "our collective efforts to support Ukraine", State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said in a statement announcing Blinken's trip.
The United States and Britain cooperate in lockstep on most global issues, and Starmer has made clear that he will maintain the UK role as one of the most assertive defenders of Ukraine as it pushes back against the Russian invasion.
Former human rights lawyer Starmer, however, has taken a harder line on Israel since taking office, with his government announcing a suspension of some arms shipments, citing the risk that they could be used to violate humanitarian law.
The Labour government has also dropped its Conservative predecessor's plans to challenge the right of the International Criminal Court to seek the arrest of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The United States is not a member of the International Criminal Court and has opposed the bid to target Netanyahu, arguing that Israel has its own systems for accountability.
But the United States, Israel's primary weapons supplier, did not criticise the UK arms decision, saying that Britain had its own process to make assessments.
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