Blinken to Press Mideast Allies for Stronger Support for Ukraine

SDE BOKER, Israel — When he joins a summit on Sunday focused on Middle East unity, Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken will ask some of the region’s top diplomats to rally behind another cause: helping Ukraine repel Russia’s invasion.

The hastily arranged summit meeting in the Negev desert has been billed as a historic event, designed to showcase growing diplomatic and economic ties between some Arab states and Israel that Mr. Blinken on Sunday called “unthinkable just a few years ago.” But foremost on his mind was the modest support for Ukraine among countries in the region that also have ties with Russia.

“This is very much a part of the conversation we’ve had today, and I’ll be having throughout the course of my visit here, including with our partners,” Mr. Blinken said Sunday in Jerusalem during a news conference with Israel’s foreign minister, Yair Lapid.