US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will meet his Israeli and UAE counterparts next week here to discuss the Abraham Accords and regional security, the State Department said on Saturday. Blinken will meet with Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid and UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed on Wednesday in bilateral and trilateral meetings. “They will discuss progress made since the signing of the Abraham Accords last year, future opportunities for collaboration, and bilateral issues including regional security and stability,” the State Department said. Blinken had pledged last month on the first anniversary of the Abraham Accords to continue encouraging Arab countries to normalize relations with Israel. “We want to widen the circle of peaceful diplomacy, because it’s in the interests of countries across the region and around the world for Israel to be treated like any other country,” he said. “Normalization leads to greater stability, more cooperation, mutual progress – all things the region and the world need very badly right now.” The UAE, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan normalized relations with Israel in deals brokered by the US in 2020. — Agencies