Blinken arrives in London on week of US-UK diplomacy

London — U.

S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived late Monday in London at the start of a week of diplomacy with the new U.K. government expected to touch on Ukraine and the Middle East.  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 U.S. official to visit London since Labour's triumph — is expected to meet Starmer and Foreign Secretary David Lammy during his talks Tuesday.  The top U.S.

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 U.K. 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 ICC 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 criticize the U.K. arms decision, saying that Britain had its own process to make assessments.

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