The U.S. State Department reports that Secretary of State Antony Blinken talked with Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, Qatar’s prime minister and minister of foreign affairs, and Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty on Wednesday about the urgent need to quash tensions in the Middle East.
Vedant Patel, the State Department’s principal deputy spokesperson, said Blinken and Al Thani “discussed efforts to calm tensions in the region and the importance of finalizing a ceasefire in Gaza.”
They agreed that no actor in the region “should take actions that would undermine efforts to reach a deal.”
Patel also described the talk between Blinken and Abdelatty, saying they discussed “shared objectives for promoting regional stability and recent diplomatic efforts to reduce tensions in the region.”
According to Patel, Blinken expressed appreciation for Egypt’s role in ongoing talks on the release of hostages in the Gaza Strip.
“The secretary and the foreign minister agreed to continue their close coordination on ending the Sudan conflict,” Patel said. “The secretary thanked the foreign minister for Egypt’s productive role in the current talks in Switzerland on Sudan, and called for both the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces to participate.”
