Blinken visits Algeria in shadow of Ukraine war

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken landed in Algeria on Wednesday, a Moscow ally and big gas producer under pressure to increase shipments to Europe after prices surged after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

On his first visit to the North African country as the top US diplomat, Blinken landed at Boumediene Airport and proceeded to see Foreign Minister Ramtane Lamamra.

He’d flown in from Algeria’s arch-rival Morocco, which normalized relations with Israel in 2020 in an agreement that reignited tensions over the disputed area of Western Sahara.

Since the agreement reached under ex-President Donald Trump, relations between Washington and Algiers have deteriorated.

The Trump administration at the time acknowledged Moroccan sovereignty over the phosphate-rich desert territory, where Algeria has long supported the Polisario independence movement.

Blinken was scheduled to visit Algeria for six hours, which included a working lunch with President Abdelmadjid Tebboune.

He might use the trip to press Algeria to reopen a pipeline that carries Algerian natural gas through Moroccan territory to Spain, reducing Europe’s reliance on Russia for energy.

Following an increase in tensions, Algiers declined to renew a 25-year export agreement, and the GME pipeline was shut down last year.

Algerian media claimed earlier this month that the government had turned down Blinken’s deputy Wendy Sherman’s plea to reopen the pipeline.

State department official Yael Lempert said Blinken was to “discuss regional security and stability, commercial cooperation and advancing human rights and fundamental freedom”.

In Morocco on Tuesday, Blinken reiterated support for a Moroccan autonomy plan for the Western Sahara, which he described as “serious, credible and realistic”.

Blinken earlier this week attended an unprecedented summit in Israel with Arab foreign ministers.

Several deadly attacks have struck Israel in recent days, the latest of which was a shooting spree late Tuesday in Bnei Brak that killed five people.

“This violence is unacceptable,” Blinken said in a statement. “Israelis — like all people around the world — should be able to live in peace and without fear.”

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