On January 8, outgoing U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Paris, where President Emmanuel Macron awarded him the Légion d’honneur. During their meeting, Secretary Blinken and President Macron discussed the unwavering support for Ukraine in response to Russia’s brutal aggression, as well as concerns regarding the People’s Republic of China’s support for Russia’s defence industrial base, which is sustaining the Kremlin’s war efforts.
They also addressed the importance of an inclusive transition process in Syria that upholds the rights of the Syrian people. Furthermore, they talked about the urgent need to finalise a ceasefire agreement in Gaza that ensures the immediate release of all hostages. Both leaders committed to continuing their cooperation on these critical issues.
Secretary Blinken also met with French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot.
At a Joint Press Availability, the U.S. Secretary noted, “This is a world that we have to face together that is more complex, more competitive, more contested, than at any time in recent memory.”
He highlighted that the U.S. and France have a determination to advance shared interests and values and do it together.
“We have an enduring belief that this partnership is essential to trying to build a world that’s a little bit safer, a little bit more secure, a little bit more prosperous for the people in both our countries and well beyond,” Secretary Blinken emphasised.
“I would like to tell you that you show the face of the America that we love,” French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot told Blinken.
“The partnership between the U.S. and France is producing results that matter and making a difference in the lives of our people. The challenges we face demand our engagement. When our countries work together, there is nothing we can’t accomplish,” Secretary Blinken posted on X after the meeting with the French President.
Supporting Ukraine’s defence
At a Joint Press Availability, the two politicians talked about their shared efforts in assisting Ukraine against the Russian aggressor and informed about the Middle East crisis.
Secretary Blinken said one of the things he discussed with the French foreign minister is that Ukraine is the best example of a proposition that security in Europe is intertwined with security worldwide.
“If you look at what’s happening in Ukraine right now, what is allowing the Russian aggression to continue? Support from North Korea with artillery, ammunition, and troops; and everything that China’s doing to support Russia’s defence industrial base – the machine tools, the microelectronics, all flowing into Russia from China, from Hong Kong, that are allowing Russia to keep manufacturing weapons, munitions, and other things essential for its ongoing aggression. So that’s just a demonstration of, increasingly, the indivisibility of security, the fact that actors far away from Ukraine, from Europe, are having a big impact on what is the biggest threat to European security since the end of the Cold War,” Blinken said.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot noted that the two countries cooperate to help Ukraine resist the Russian aggressor.
“And we agree that no solution can be found to this conflict without the Ukrainians,” emphasised the French MFA.
“There can be no discussion regarding European security without the Europeans, and no solution can be found to this crisis if the solution were to be – not to be in the interests of Ukraine,” highlighted the French MFA. “So from a financial point of view, when it comes to the sanctions, for three years almost now we’ve been providing Ukraine with the support that it so much needed to preserve, to defend, its freedom, its territorial integrity, of course, but also at the same time to protect and defend the interests – the security interests – of Europe.”
