EGN NEWS DESK
President Biden and President Emmanuel Macron of France careworn on Saturday how a lot they agree with one another about world affairs, together with the warfare in Ukraine, at the same time as their international locations have expressed sharply completely different views of the combating in Gaza between Israel and Hamas.
Appearing briefly collectively earlier than reporters after two days of D-Day remembrances, the 2 presidents declined to take any questions and papered over their stark variations in regards to the Middle East. Instead, they each asserted the enduring energy of the American-French partnership on local weather, the financial system, European safety and cultural ties.
“Today, I proudly stand with France to help freedom and democracy all over the world,” Mr. Biden stated, as the 2 males emerged from a closed-door assembly on the Élysée Palace.
“We see eye to eye on this warfare raging in Ukraine,” Mr. Macron famous, and he added that he hoped “all members of the G7 will conform to a $50 billion solidarity fund for Ukraine,” referring to the Group of seven industrialized nations.
The French president’s feedback advised that the 2 leaders had reached frequent floor over a plan to leverage proceeds from frozen Russian belongings to offer an upfront mortgage of as much as $50 billion to Ukraine. American officers had stated heading into the assembly that France was the principle holdout for such a plan and that they have been hoping to win help in the course of the Paris go to.
On Gaza, Mr. Macron famous his authorities’s help for an Israeli cease-fire proposal that Mr. Biden has strongly backed. But the French president additionally straight challenged Israel to do extra to ship assist to Palestinians affected by the federal government’s bombardment.
“It will not be acceptable that Israel shouldn’t open all checkpoints to humanitarian assist, as requested by the united worldwide neighborhood for months,” Mr. Macron stated. He stated Israeli operations in Gaza “ought to cease.”
France has supported the International Criminal Court’s resolution to hunt warrants for the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and Yahya Sinwar, the chief of Hamas in Gaza. By distinction, Mr. Biden has condemned that effort, calling it an unconscionable comparability of the 2 leaders. France additionally voted within the United Nations in May to incorporate Palestine as a full member of the group, one thing the United States opposes.
Neither Mr. Biden nor Mr. Macron talked about any of the disagreements in regards to the Israel-Hamas battle.
In a departure from the same old apply when American presidents meet with overseas leaders, reporters from France and the United States weren’t allowed to ask questions after the Saturday statements, which lasted a mixed 16 minutes. In most circumstances, the 2 leaders permit reporters from every nation to ask at the least two questions.
John Kirby, a nationwide safety spokesman for the White House, declined to elucidate why that was not the case on Saturday.
“This was the association that was made,” he informed reporters earlier within the week. “As , with any bilateral assembly or, on this case, a state go to, all of that’s hashed out between the 2 sides. And it was determined in our discussions and our planning for this go to that that’s what they’d do: that they’d come out and make statements to the press.”
Mr. Macron’s heat embrace of Mr. Biden regardless of the tensions within the relationship stood in sharp distinction to the temper when President Donald J. Trump visited in November 2018. Just minutes earlier than Air Force One landed in Paris then, Mr. Trump posted a message on-line accusing Mr. Macron of being “very insulting.” Mr. Macron then gave a speech assailing nationalism simply weeks after Mr. Trump declared himself an American nationalist.
On Saturday, in contrast, Mr. Macron praised Mr. Biden as “a companion who respects Europeans,” a line that appeared like a distinction from Mr. Trump, who usually denigrated European leaders. “Thank you for being at Europe’s facet,” Mr. Macron stated.
“You’ve grow to be a superb buddy,” Mr. Biden stated in response.
