US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to visit France
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will make his first official visit to France today as part of his European tour.
Blinken will meet with French President Emmanuel Macron and Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian. Likewise, the Secretary will be the highest-level US official to visit France— a key player in the EU— since President Joe Biden came to power in January. Coming just days before the meeting of G20 foreign ministers, today’s discussions between the two allies will aim to converge their approaches ahead the all-important summit.
Macron and Biden have both expressed their common desire to advance transatlantic relations and strengthen ties to tackle issues including the COVID-19 pandemic, relations with China and Russia, global climate policies and international security challenges.
Expect Blinken to broach these areas of common interest during today’s meeting. In the continuity of what has been suggested by Biden to US allies, discussions will likely be centered around the launch of global infrastructure funding scheme to compete with Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative. Likewise, Blinken will likely address the need to strengthen NATO in response growing Chinese and Russian security challenges.
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