The Middle East and Ukraine are on the menu of the head of American diplomacy’s visit to Paris

US diplomacy chief Antony Blinken made a stop in France on Tuesday to discuss support for Ukraine and the situation in the Middle East with President Emmanuel Macron, his counterpart Stephane Sejournet and the French armed forces minister.

The American Secretary of State will first accompany the Minister of the Armed Forces Sebastian Lecornu to Versailles near Paris, at the Nexter plant, a subsidiary of the Franco-German KNDS group, which produces the Caesar guns supplied to Kyiv. France, which organized the summit in late February to spark a “surge” in favor of Ukraine, has asked its allies to redouble their efforts to defeat Russia.

Despite the United States being Ukraine’s main arms supplier, Washington is now blocked from its $60 billion military aid program to Ukraine due to Republican opposition in Congress.

Antony Blinken will then have lunch with his counterpart Stephane Sejournet, who was in Cairo on Saturday to discuss the war in Gaza and in Beijing on Monday, where he called on China to send “very clear signals to Russia.” “It is obvious that China plays a key role in independence, respect for international law, including the sovereignty of Ukraine,” the French minister told his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi.

With Antony Blinken he will discuss “the biggest international crises: the Middle East and the war in Ukraine, as well as Sudan, ahead of an international conference co-hosted by France on April 15,” the French Foreign Ministry said. .

Meeting in Brussels

They will also discuss preparations for the NATO summit, which will be held in Washington in July. The French minister will also review “Franco-American cooperation on the next steps in implementing the initiatives adopted at the meeting on February 26 in Paris,” his entourage said. At the end of February, at a meeting of heads of state and government in Paris, it was decided to work on several projects, including increasing the supply of ammunition to Ukraine, cyber defense, mine clearance and even industrial production of weapons in Ukraine. Following the bilateral meeting, Stéphane Sejournet and Antony Blinken will hold a joint press conference.

The US Secretary of State will then travel to UNESCO, where he is expected to express US support for the United Nations during a meeting with UNESCO Director General Audrey Azoulay. “This visit underscores the place that the United States has fully reclaimed within UNESCO since its return nine months ago,” a UNESCO diplomat said as the United States joined the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization under the leadership of Joe Biden. abandoned under Donald Trump.

At the end of the day, Antony Blinken will be received by Emmanuel Macron at the Elysee Palace, where major international crises will once again be discussed, as we learned during the French presidency.

Antony Blinken is then expected to travel to Brussels to attend a meeting with his NATO counterparts to mark the 75th anniversary of the Atlantic Alliance. On the sidelines of this meeting, he will also hold a trilateral meeting with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and the leaders of the European Union.