Two of President Donald Trump's top national security aides plan to hold talks in Paris with French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday as the United States and Europe search for common ground on ending the Ukraine war and averting an Iran conflict.
French government spokesperson Sophie Primas told reporters on Wednesday that Secretary of State Marco Rubio and special envoy Steve Witkoff would visit France soon.
Primas added that they would broadly discuss issues in the Middle East with French officials, saying: "All subjects regarding the Middle East will be on the table."
Separately, on Thursday, French Defence Minister Sebastien Lecornu will travel to Washington to meet with his counterpart, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, as well as with Keith Kellogg, Trump's Ukraine envoy, and Tulsi Gabbard, the U.S. Director of National Intelligence, the ministry said.
The two advisers, , are expected to hear European concerns about Russia amid U.S. attempts to arrange an elusive ceasefire in Ukraine three years after Russia invaded its neighbor.
Trump's frustration with Russia and Ukraine over the ongoing bloodshed between them has been growing and he has been threatening military action against Iranian nuclear facilities.
European leaders have grown more concerned as Trump has made diplomatic gestures to Russian President Vladimir Putin and applied pressure on Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
"I'm just trying to get it stopped so that we can save a lot of lives," Trump told reporters on Sunday.
Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said on Monday he hoped Trump and his administration would see that Putin was "mocking their goodwill" following Moscow's deadly missile strike on the Ukrainian city of Sumy.
Besides Macron, the French foreign ministry said Rubio will also meet his French counterpart Jean-Noel Barrot to discuss Ukraine, prospects for a new Iran nuclear deal and the Middle East.
Witkoff plans to fly for a second round of discussions on Saturday with Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi about Iran's nuclear program. They met for 45 minutes last Saturday in Oman.
Both sides described last weekend's talks as positive while acknowledging that any potential deal remains distant.
Trump said on Monday he was willing to bomb Iran's nuclear facilities if a deal was not reached.
On Tuesday, he held a meeting with top national security advisers at the White House focused on Iran's nuclear program, according to sources familiar with the encounter.
The United States had not told European countries about the nuclear talks in Oman before Trump announced them, even though they hold a key card on the possible reimposition of U.N. sanctions on Tehran. Thursday's talks will be a key opportunity for potential coordination between U.S. and Europe.
Trump has restored a "maximum pressure" campaign on Tehran since February, after the U.S. leader ditched a 2015 nuclear pact between Iran and six world powers during his first term and reimposed crippling sanctions on the Islamic Republic.
Trump said on Monday he believes Iran is intentionally delaying a nuclear deal with the United States and that it must abandon any drive for a nuclear weapon or face a possible military strike on Tehran's atomic facilities.
"I think they're tapping us along," Trump told reporters.
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Poland has declared two days of national mourning after a gunman opened fire in Kraków's historic main square. Investigators are examining possible far-right influences and the discovery of three bodies at the suspect's home.
Monday marks the second of two days of national mourning in Poland as police bolstered security after six people were killed in a mass shooting in Kraków.
Russian forces launched a ballistic missile attack on Kyiv early on Saturday, 7 November, injuring two people and damaging residential buildings, just three days before U.S.-led peace talks with Ukraine and Russia in Abu Dhabi.
The Saudi-led coalition fighting Yemen's Houthis said it intercepted and destroyed two ballistic missiles fired by the Iran-aligned group towards Riyadh on Sunday (8 November), after loud booms were heard in the Saudi capital. The Aramco building was damaged by falling debris.
New Zealand’s ruling centre-right National Party has taken a narrow lead over the opposition Labour Party in Saturday’s general election, with the country’s current three-party coalition projected to retain power.
At least seven people have been killed and more than 125 injured after two passenger trains collided in Egypt’s Giza province, south of Cairo, on Sunday.
A 24-year-old man who killed six people in Poland’s central city of Krakow had advanced military-style shooting skills, according to a spokesperson for the gun club he attended.
Monday marks the second of two days of national mourning in Poland as police bolstered security after six people were killed in a mass shooting in Kraków.
Clashes between protesters and police erupted in Paris and Marseille on Saturday as demonstrations over rising living costs and declining public services continued for a fourth consecutive weekend across France.
Security measures have been stepped up in Antalya, Türkiye, ahead of the COP31 United Nations climate summit, which begins on Monday, 9 November, with thousands of additional personnel deployed across the Mediterranean city.
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