US allies try to dilute anti-Iran agenda for Warsaw summit
Wary European allies are trying to dilute and broaden the agenda and lower their diplomatic representation for a US-backed ministerial meeting on Middle East peace and security to be held Feb. 13-14 in Warsaw, Poland.
WASHINGTON — An international conference in Poland next month that the Donald Trump administration had intended to showcase global unity and resolve to isolate Iran is instead highlighting wariness among US allies.
European allies are scrambling for excuses to send lower-level diplomats instead of their foreign ministers to the Feb. 13-14 Warsaw conference and also are looking for ways to dilute the agenda while not outright snubbing the United States, European sources said.
Meanwhile, the US envoy to the UN insisted this week that the Ministerial to Promote Peace and Stability in the Middle East was not intended to be a forum to demonize Iran.
“The ministerial will serve as a global brainstorming session where we can develop the outline of a stronger security architecture in the region,” the acting US Ambassador to the UN Jonathan Cohen told the UN Security Council on Tuesday.
