French President Emmanuel Macron met on Friday in Bangkok with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Island Summit, according to the Elysee.
They both discussed the situation in Lebanon and the war in Ukraine, according to the French presidency.
During a phone call on Saturday, Macron and bin Salman agreed to “strengthen their cooperation to meet the humanitarian needs of Lebanon.”
Macron also stressed “the necessity of electing a president as soon as possible, in order to properly implement the program of structural reforms that are indispensable to the revival” of Lebanon.
Furthermore, Lebanese ex-President Michel Aoun's term expired on October 31, without parliament being able to elect a successor, given that the country is still suffering from an unprecedented economic and social crisis.
In Bangkok, the French president also called for an “understanding” to put pressure on Russia and reach peace negotiations to end the conflict in Ukraine.
For his part, US President Joe Biden refused to meet with the Saudi crown prince during the G-20 summit that took place on Tuesday and Wednesday, after a decision by the OPEC Plus oil alliance was in Russia's favor.
However, during their meeting on July 29 in Paris, Macron and bin Salman hoped to “intensify cooperation” with the aim of “mitigating the effects of the Ukraine war in Europe, the Middle East and the world,” in light of the rise in energy prices.
In December 2021 in the Saudi city of Jeddah, Macron was one of the first Western leaders to meet bin Salman after the diplomatic crisis with many countries caused by the assassination of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018 in Istanbul, which negatively affected the image of the Saudi crown prince.