G7 ministers meeting in Paris this Monday amid tensions with Iran

G7 foreign ministers are meeting Monday and Tuesday in Paris as U.S. allies struggle to avoid further escalation between Washington and Tehran and weigh in on talks to end the war in Ukraine.

The head of American diplomacy Marco Rubio confirmed his participation in the two days of work with his German counterparts Johann Wadephul, British Ed Miliband, Canadian Anita Anand, French Jean-Noël Barrot, Italian Antonio Tajani and Japanese Toshimitsu Motegi. In March, he only stayed one day.

The Parisian meeting will be held in Paris at the Quai d'Orsay - headquarters of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs -, in the prestigious Salon de l'Horloge which served as a setting for the signing of numerous international treaties, and no longer in Marseille, after a last minute change officially for agenda reasons. As during the G7 in March, the Middle East will once again emerge as a central issue, with a particular focus on maritime security, the Strait of Hormuz and energy issues, indicated the Quai d'Orsay.

Within the G7, the United States has been isolated since it launched strikes against Iran in the spring, with the support of Israel. The offensive led to the blockage of the Strait of Hormuz, through which a significant part of the world's oil passes, causing a surge in energy prices. The conflict quickly spread across the region. Lebanon was heavily affected by the opening of a direct front between Israel and Hezbollah, while civilian infrastructure in Jordan, Bahrain and Kuwait suffered collateral strikes. For France, Lebanon appears to be the diplomatic emergency of the moment and the issue will be raised during this G7, indicated the Quai d'Orsay.

Paris is seeking to build in a few weeks a replacement mechanism for the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), whose mandate expires on December 31. This will be Marco Rubio's first trip abroad since the Democrats' large victory in the US mid-term elections, who will regain control of Congress in January.

The meeting of seven ministers from the most industrialized countries will offer a first opportunity for Washington's allies to gauge the state of mind of the Trump administration and detect possible changes in its foreign policy, in particular on Ukraine, another major issue on the menu of discussions on Monday and Tuesday. The meeting also coincides with talks between Moscow and kyiv under American mediation scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday in Abu Dhabi on the end of the war in Ukraine.

The G7 Europeans will seek in particular to measure the consequences of the mid-term elections on American support for kyiv, policy towards Russia and the debate on European strategic autonomy. They also intend to reimpose their presence in future negotiations. “The Europeans will be well represented and France will be in Abu Dhabi to participate in these discussions,” has already assured Jean-Noël Barrot, interviewed on Sunday on RTL/Public Senate without further details. Jared Kushner, Donald Trump's envoy, indicated last Thursday that the United States would "consult closely" with its European partners on the sidelines of the Abu Dhabi talks. And “if progress is made, the objective will be to move towards a broader multilateral format with their direct participation,” he added.

On the sidelines of the G7 work devoted to Ukraine, the French Ministry of Economy and Finance will host a donor conference on Monday to support the rehabilitation of the containment arch of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. And in the south of France, in Marseille, a network of 14 global ports intended to fight against drug trafficking will be officially launched on Monday. This scourge with global ramifications was one of the themes raised this year by the French presidency of the G7.