Biden reviewing latest actions taken during Trump's term, says Blinken
Jan 27, 2021
Washington DC [US], January 28 : The Joe Biden administration is currently reviewing the latest actions taken by the Donald Trump administration before their departure, including its designation of Yemen's Houthis as a terrorist organisation, said US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday.
Addressing his first press briefing as the US Secretary of State, he said, "We are reviewing a number of steps that were taken late in the last administration. We want to make sure we understand in each case the basis for the decisions that were made. I will tell you that particularly focussed on the question of sanction of Yemen's Houthis."
On possible sanctions on Russia over the opposition activist Alexei Navalny's arrest, Blinken said, "As you already know, we have shared our concerns for Mr Navalny specifically and more generally with the human rights situations in Russia. It remains quite striking to me how concerned and maybe even scared the Russian government seems to be of one man."
Over Abraham Accords and arms sales to Saudi Arabia, he said, "As we have said that we pretty much support the Abraham accords. Israel normalizing its relations with neighbours and other countries in the region is a positive development. For that we applaud them and we hope that there may be an opportunity to build on them in years ahead."
The Abraham Accords are a joint statement between Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and the United States, reached on August 13 last year to normalize ties in the Arab world.
On the weapons sale done during Trump's term, Blinken added, "Generally speaking, when it comes to arms sales, it is typical at the start of the administration to review any pending sales to make sure that what is being considered as something that advances our strategic objectives and advances our foreign policy."
The new US administration has imposed a freeze on US arms sales to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to review billions of dollars in weapons transactions approved by former President Donald Trump.
