US Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrived in France in the early afternoon of 27 March, joining Group of Seven (G7) foreign ministers and allied representatives already gathered for the second day of the meeting, which comes amid tensions over Iran, Ukraine and global security.
Rubio is due to attend the official sessions of the G7 ministerial meeting in Cerne-la-Ville, near Paris. It will be his first face-to-face meeting with key allies since US President Donald Trump stepped up criticism of allies over Iran.
The meeting will bring together senior diplomats from Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Canada, the European Union and Japan, as well as guest countries including Ukraine.
On the eve of his departure for Paris on 26 March, Rubio made clear that a central message to allies would be the urgency of opening the Strait of Hormuz, a critical global transit route effectively blocked by Iran.
“It’s in their interest to help,” Rubio told reporters.
US President Donald Trump on the eve once again rebuked NATO, saying the alliance countries have done “absolutely nothing” to help the United States in the situation with Iran. At the same time, Trump added that “the United States doesn’t need anything from NATO.”
Last week, Trump asked NATO to help guarantee the security of the Strait of Hormuz. Several European countries that are members of NATO said they were willing to consider helping once the conflict was over, while others flatly rejected the request.