In the midst of a period of tension with Washington, in particular on customs duties, this first official visit of the head of American diplomacy in France is particularly strategic. Marco Rubio is indeed visiting Paris this Thursday.
The Secretary of State of the United States, who will be accompanied by the special emissary for the Middle East Steve Witkoff, must meet Emmanuel Macron and the Minister of Foreign Affairs Jean-Noël Barrot. It will be the third trip to Europe of the American manager in Europe since taking office, after his participation in the Security Conference in Munich in mid-February and a NATO meeting in Brussels in March.
Ukraine at the discussion center
Since his return to the White House, Donald Trump has continued to abuse his European allies. In addition to the thorny file of customs duties, he accuses them of abusing the United States, especially in the context of NATO.
The main subject of discussion in Paris will be the war in Ukraine, started in February 2022 and to which the American president promised to end. But after having returned to contact with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, the negotiations initiated for a general cease-fire between kyiv and Moscow are difficult. The presence in Paris of Steve Witkoff, which is the special emissary of President Trump in these talks, will be an opportunity to take stock. France wants new strong measures against the master of the Kremlin due to the Russian bombing led Sunday on the Ukrainian city of Soumy, which killed at least 35 civilians.
A French diplomatic source has also indicated that interviews at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs should also relate to the situation in the Middle East and the Iranian nuclear file. Rare discussions between Tehran and Washington on the Iran nuclear program took place on Saturday in the Sultanate of Oman and a new round is scheduled for April 19 in Rome, still under the mediation of Oman.
Sébastien Uncar To Washington
Active negotiators of an agreement in 2015, Europeans, grouped within the E3 (France, Germany, Great Britain), are for the moment held out, confined to an observer role. And time is running out to find an agreement while Tehran is “not far” to have the nuclear bomb, Rafael Grosi warned Wednesday, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, in a daily interview The world.
Our file on the war in Ukraine
Diplomacy between France and the United States will not stop there, it will even be particularly active. While Marco Rubio will be in Paris, the French Minister of the Armed Forces Sébastien Lecornu will be in Washington where he will speak with the United States Minister of Defense, Pete Hegseth.
