Blinken, Macron to discuss Gaza genocide, support for Ukraine in Paris

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: News websites
2 Apr 2024 07:52
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The US Secretary of State, Macron, and top French officials have all agreed on increasing military aid to Ukraine.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken, right, talks with French President Emmanuel Macron during a round table meeting at an EU summit in Brussels, Thursday, March 24, 2022. (AP)

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is set to meet with French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris on Tuesday regarding the Russian-Ukrainian war and the Israeli genocide in Gaza.

Blinken's itinerary includes a scheduled visit to an arms factory that manufactures artillery shells utilized in Ukraine, accompanied by France's Armed Forces Minister Sebastien Lecornu.

This comes a day after Lecornu told French newspaper La Tribune Dimanche that Paris will provide Kiev with a new batch of surface-to-air missiles, in addition to old armored vehicles

According to the Minister, he was tasked to form the package by President Emmanuel Macron.

The new assistance “notably includes old equipment from our armies, which is still functional,” he said. “To hold such a long frontline, the Ukrainian army needs, for example, our armored vehicles — this is absolutely key for troop mobility and is part of Ukraine’s requests.”

Regarding the number of vehicles planned to be supplied to Kiev, Lecornu confirmed that it will be "in the hundreds for 2024 and early 2025.”

"[A] new batch of Aster 30 missiles” will also be provided, he continued. “We are also developing remotely operated munitions in a very short timeframe, for delivery to the Ukrainians as early as this summer."

Blinken will also be addressing the findings and results of the conference discussing additional military support to Ukraine, held by France in February.

After Paris, Blinken is heading to Brussels for a three-party meeting with EU officials and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, whose ties with Russia are at an all-time low.

On Gaza and the genocide

Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne is also scheduled to meet with Blinken, AFP reported. According to the French Foreign Ministry, Sejourne and Blinken are preparing for a NATO summit in Washington to further discuss how to manage the Ukraine war and the Israeli genocide in Gaza.

Earlier, Macron strongly opposed the Israeli plan to invade Rafah, which currently hosts over a million displaced Palestinians. He declared France's intention to suggest a permanent and immediate ceasefire resolution at the UN Security Council and urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to open all crossing routes into Gaza.

Last month, the French newspaper Le Monde interviewed Sejourne, who answered key questions on the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip and the war in Ukraine.

Sejourne stressed that "France must be on the right side of history" when it comes to the war in Ukraine and called for an "urgent" and "lasting" ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.

The Minister said that the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip has been "catastrophic" for the past few months, adding that "Israel" is creating "indefensible and unjustifiable situations" in the besieged territory which it has "to answer" to.

According to the top diplomat, French authorities urged Israeli authorities to "increase the number of crossing points (into the Gaza Strip) and humanitarian trucks," however, these calls "have gone unanswered."

"The responsibility for blocking this aid clearly lies with Israelis," he told Le Monde.

The United States, on the other hand, abstained from voting on an immediate ceasefire in Gaza at the United Nations Security Council.