French President Emmanuel Macron and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman seal a strategic partnership on Monday, to advance French-Saudi relations and de-escalate the conflict in the Middle East, including Lebanon, where both leaders discussed appointing a president.
On Monday, the French leader visited Saudi Arabia for a three-day state visit as a political crisis looms over the French government.
After meeting the de facto ruler of oil-rich Gulf kingdom, Macron’s office said a new partnership has been signed to boost the cooperation in “defence, energy transition, culture, mobility between the two countries”.
Macron and the two leaders also “enthusiastically agreed to exert every political effort for the de-escalation in the region … including facilitating the consolidation of an uneasy cease-fire between Israel-Lebanon”.
The two called for Lebanese people to elect a president that would unite the Lebanese and conduct the reforms needed for the stability and security of the country Macron’s office said,
Macron landed in Riyadh this afternoon, meeting honour guard of swordsmen upon his alighting and thunderous artillery as he exited the plane.
France-Saudi economic boost:
French President Emmanuel Macron accompanied by a delegation of close to 50 senior government officials and top executives from French giants like Total Energies/EDF/Veolia as well as cutting edge start-ups including artificial intelligence, quantum physics. In a nod to shared commitment in both sides, the French presidency huddled that “significantly deepen” economic partnership between them and strive to push cooperation to the “height of our common aspiration
