French
President
Emmanuel
Macron
and
U.S.
President
Joe
Biden
stand
together
onstage
during
an
official
State
Arrival
Ceremony
for
President
Macron
on
the
South
Lawn
of
the
White
House
in
Washington,
U.S.,
December
1,
2022.
Elizabeth
Frantz
|
Reuters
Fresh
from
commemorating
the
80th
anniversary
of
D-Day,
French
President
Emmanuel
Macron
welcomed
U.S.
President
Joe
Biden
in
Paris
on
Saturday
for
a
state
visit
that
included
talks
about
the
Middle
East,
Ukraine
and
trade.
The
two
countries
will
work
harder
to
prevent
a
regional
escalation
from
Israel’s
war
with
militant
group
Hamas
in
Gaza
and
focus
on
calming
tensions
between
Israel
and
Hezbollah,
Macron
told
reporters
at
the
Elysee
presidential
palace,
with
Biden
at
his
side.
“We
are
redoubling
efforts
together
to
avoid
a
regional
explosion,
particularly
in
Lebanon,”
Macron
said.
Hezbollah
is
an
Iran-backed
political
movement
and
militia
in
Lebanon.
Both
men
welcomed
the rescue
by
Israeli
forces of
four
hostages
held
by
Hamas
since
October.
“We
won’t
stop
working
until
all
the
hostages
come
home
and
a
ceasefire
is
reached,”
Biden
said.
Biden
has
been
a
staunch
supporter
of
Israel,
which
is
pursuing
Hamas
after
it
attacked
the
country
in
October.
But
tens
of
thousands
of
Palestinian
deaths
have
soured
Biden’s
left-leaning
political
base
on
Israel,
hurting
him
as
he
runs
against
Republican
Donald
Trump
for
re-election
in
November.
Biden
and
Macron,
who
spent
the
last
few
days
celebrating
D-Day
veterans
and
extolling
democratic
values,
did
not
take
questions
from
reporters.
The
Saturday
visit
began
with
a
ceremony
at
the
iconic
Arc
de
Triomphe,
where
the
leaders
paid
their
respects
at
the
Tomb
of
the
Unknown
Soldier
while
a
massive
French
flag
hanging
from
the
arch
fluttered
in
the
breeze
above
their
heads.
Accompanied
by
their
wives,
Biden
and
Macron
greeted
army
veterans
who
joined
senior
officials
from
both
countries.
Then,
escorted
by
French
guards
on
horseback,
the
leaders
drove
down
the
capital’s
renowned
Avenue
des
Champs-Elysees,
en
route
to
the
Elysee.
Biden
and
Macron
share
a
warm
relationship
despite
past tensions
over
a
submarine
deal with
Australia.
Biden
hosted
Macron
for
a state
visit at
the
White
House
in
2022.
They
are
aligned
in
their
countries’
support
for
Ukraine
and
opposition
to
Russian
President
Vladimir
Putin,
though
they
have
not
agreed
yet
on
a
plan
to
use
frozen
Russian
assets
to
help
Kyiv.
A
U.S.
Treasury
official
said
on
Tuesday
the
United
States
and
its
G7
partners were
making
progress on
that.
“The
United
States
is
standing
strong
with
Ukraine.
We’re
standing
with
our
allies.
We
are
standing
with
France,”
Biden
said.
“Putin
is
not
going
to
stop
with
Ukraine….
All
of
Europe
will
be
threatened.
We’re
not
going
to
let
that
happen.”
Biden
met
with
Ukraine
President
Volodymyr
Zelenskiy
in
Paris
on
Friday, apologizing
for
a
months-long
delay by
the
U.S.
Congress
in
approving
the
latest
military
aid,
and
Zelenskiy addressed
France’s
National
Assembly.
Beyond
Ukraine,
trade
issues
between
the
two
sides
of
the
Atlantic
loomed
large,
especially
over
the
U.S.
Inflation
Reduction
Act,
which
Biden signed
into
law in
August
2022.
European
officials
see
it
as
a
protectionist
move
that
siphons
off
investments
from
EU
companies.
Macron
said
he
and
Biden
discussed
the
consequences
of
the
IRA
for
the
European
economy
again
on
Saturday.
Despite
his
criticism
of
the
IRA
during
his
state
visit
to
Washington
in
2022,
Macron
and
European
allies
have
since
won
few
concessions
from
Washington.
“We
really
wish
to
move
towards
a
resynchronisation
of
our
economies,
between
the
United
States
of
America
and
European
economies,
in
terms
of
regulation
and
in
terms
of
investment
levels,”
Macron
said.
