Macron Trump of France treats ambassador after congratulating Pita

PARIS (AP) – French President Emmanuel Macron held a closed-door, low-key meeting with US President Donald Trump’s top diplomat on Monday, a tip-off surrounding the sharp fact that France has already recognized President-elect Joe Biden as US. Election winner.

The zero-sum reception at the Elysee Palace by President Trump’s loyalist US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo indicates how Mitron’s government is already facing the Biden era.

No press conferences were held, and journalists missed the opportunity to ask Macron’s office if they had discussed the conflicting interpretations of the US election results with his foreign minister, Jean-Yves Le Drian, or Pompeo. Unusually, Le Drian met Pompeo at Elysee Palace rather than his own office.

Macron’s office described Pompeo’s stop as a “respectable” visit. The State Department said Pompeo and Macron “discussed” significant threats to global security, efforts to combat violent extremism, Iran’s unstable behavior and Hezbollah’s ill influence in Lebanon. It said Pompeo also stressed the importance of the Atlantic Alliance, NATO solidarity and confronting China’s growing global influence.

Pompeo tweeted a photo of himself wearing a stars and striped mask during a meeting with “my good friend” Le Trian and said they were having an “important discussion”.

“We can’t win when the US-France Atlantic relationship is strong,” he tweeted.

These include NATO’s stabilization efforts in the Sahel region of Libya and Africa, and what a statement described as “our strongest alliance in countering the Chinese Communist Party’s atrocities in Europe.” The nature of the alleged process is not detailed.

However, it is not clear why Pompeo came so long in the midst of the epidemic, with a three-day stop in Paris, largely locked away by an increase in corona virus cases, the result of such low visibility.

Pompeo team officials said French officials said no press access was possible due to concerns about the epidemic.

Pompeo appeared last week to cast doubt on Trump’s electoral defeat, saying,. ”

Macron spoke on the phone with Biden last week.

Before meeting Macron and Le Drian, Pompeo placed red, white and blue bouquets at a memorial to victims of terrorism at the Hotel des Invalides, a Paris milestone.

The ceremony lasted about a minute.

“The United States stands with France. We mourn the victims, pray for their families, and strongly condemn these senseless attacks on innocent French citizens. Pompeo tweeted.

From Paris, Pompeo traveled to Turkey, where he met with religious leaders in Istanbul, but not with government officials.

The absence of official meetings in Turkey was due to planned problems during the brief stop, senior foreign ministry officials said. They said meetings were requested, but Turkish officials were unable to travel from the Ankara capital to Istanbul during Pompeo’s presence. Officials said Pompeo and his Turkish envoy planned to meet with each other in early December at a meeting of NATO foreign ministers.

Officials said Pompeo’s suspension in Turkey would focus on promoting religious freedom and fighting religious persecution, which is a top priority for the US administration. Pompeo discusses religious issues with Archbishop Paul Russell, the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople Bartholomew I, considered the “foremost of equals” in the Orthodox world, and the Apostolic Nuncio to Turkey.

Post-tour stops include visits to Israeli settlements in the West Bank, which have been avoided by previous Secretary of State.

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The report was co-authored by Matthew Lee in Washington and John Leicester in Paris.