PARIS: Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was on Wednesday heading to France where he will meet President Emmanuel Macron, with Paris seeking intensified support from the oil-rich kingdom for Ukraine against Russia’s invasion.
Macron’s office said the two would speak on Friday over lunch at the president’s Elysee Palace, adding that they would discuss “especially the war in Ukraine and its consequences for the rest of the world”.
The de-facto ruler, known widely as “MBS”, is no stranger to France, owning the opulent Chateau Louis XIV near Versailles outside Paris, a modern building that seeks to replicate the look of French imperial palaces.
The prince’s stay in France could last some days, with MBS also due to attend a Paris summit on a New Global Financing Pact hosted by Macron on June 22-23.
On Monday, he will also attend an official Saudi reception for Riyadh’s candidacy to host Expo 2030.
The trip underlines already close French ties with the resource-rich Gulf nation.
Prince Mohammed had already discussed the Ukraine conflict face-to-face with Macron on his last official visit to Paris in July 2022.
The pair said then that they wanted to cooperate to “limit the effects” on other countries from Russia’s invasion of its neighbour.
The 37-year-old prince, who is overseeing sweeping social and economic reforms, also faces criticism over rights in Saudi Arabia and Macron will again be under pressure for these issues to feature prominently in the talks.
In December 2021, Macron became one of the first Western leaders to meet Prince Mohammed in Saudi Arabia since Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi was killed and dismembered inside Riyadh’s Istanbul consulate in 2018.
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